TY - JOUR T1 - High-yield methods for accurate two-alternative visual psychophysics in head-fixed mice JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/051912 SP - 051912 AU - Christopher P Burgess AU - Nicholas Steinmetz AU - Armin Lak AU - Peter Zatka-Haas AU - Adam Ranson AU - Miles Wells AU - Sylvia Schröeder AU - Elina A K Jacobs AU - Charu Bai Reddy AU - Sofia Soares AU - Jennnifer F Linden AU - Joseph J Paton AU - Kenneth D Harris AU - Matteo Carandini Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/06/051912.abstract N2 - Research in neuroscience relies increasingly on the mouse, a mammalian species that affords unparalleled genetic tractability and brain atlases. Here we introduce high-yield methods for probing mouse visual decisions. Mice are head-fixed, which facilitates repeatable visual stimulation, eye tracking, and brain access. They turn a steering wheel to make two-alternative choices, forced or unforced. Learning is rapid thanks to intuitive coupling of stimuli to wheel position. The mouse decisions deliver high-quality psychometric curves for detection and discrimination, and conform to the predictions of a simple probabilistic observer model. The task is readily paired with two-photon imaging of cortical activity. Optogenetic inactivation reveals that the task requires the visual cortex. Mice are motivated to perform the task by fluid reward or optogenetic stimulation of dopaminergic neurons. This stimulation elicits larger number of trials and faster learning. These methods provide a platform to accurately probe mouse vision and its neural basis. ER -