FlexRig

FlexRig is an open-source platform for running experiments to test decision making and cognitive flexibility in mice. It was developed by Dr Tim Spellman and his lab at the UConn School of Medicine. The platform allows for using olfactory, somatosensory, and/or auditory cues and directional licking responses as a behavior readout.

The platform offers a stand-alone testing setup, and could be scaled or modified for other uses thanks to the full sharing of the design files and programs needed to build and use the platform. Hardware modules include the following six components:

1. A base for head-restraint
2. A module for delivering liquid rewards
3. A module for translating left/right licks into behavioral readouts
4. A module for delivering of up to four odorants in a given experimental design
5. A module for delivering auditory (∼5–20 KHz stimuli) and/or whisker somatosensory (20–300 Hz stimuli) cues
6. A command stage for interfacing the hardware components with an Arduino control board

A set of Arduino programs is included for the control of all hardware modules and for programming behavioral experiments. This includes software for controlling optogenetics equipment and interfacing with electrical and/or optical recording systems.

Build instructions are given in the published manuscript on the eNeuro website. Required files are included with the manuscript as Extended Data and also in a GitHub repository.

This is an outstanding example of sharing setups and protocols for neuroscience research. Such sharing provides rapid access to cutting edge tools used in ongoing research and enhances research rigor and reproducibility. We are not aware of any integrated system such as FlexRig from any commercial vendors, and the required hardware is readily available from makerspace vendors such as Arduino and other resources listed on our Resources page. This makes FlexRig a low-cost and fully capable system, and it might be useful for your research!

The paper at eNeuro was highly lauded by the reviewers and handling editor. This lead the Society for Neuroscience to select the paper for an upcoming webinar on FlexRig and open-source tools in general. The webinar will be on March 25 from 11:45 am – 1 pm ET. Here is the registration page for this webinar: https://neuronline.sfn.org/scientific-research/an-open-source-3d-printable-platform. If you are not a member of SfN, please contact the OpenBehavior project at openbehavior@gmail.com for a code to attend the webinar.

This research tool was created by your colleagues. Please acknowledge the Principal Investigator and cite the article in which the tool was described.