【Animal Modeling】-Influencing Factors in Rats' Reward Conditioning Experiment

  OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of three factors, different color light stimuli, stimulus duration and day/night training on reward conditioning experiments in rats, and to provide data basis for reward conditioning experiment methodology.

  Methods: Divided into three batches of experiments: in experiment one, 8-week-old Wistar rats were selected and divided into three groups, red light stimulation group, yellow light stimulation group, and blue light stimulation group; in experiment two, 8-week-old Wistar rats were selected and divided into three groups. In experiment 3, 8-week-old Wistar rats were divided into day group (training at 9:00 in the day) and night group (training at 21:00 in the evening). All experimental animals underwent reward conditioning training, and counted the number of correct nose touches, the number of wrong nose touches, and the correct rate of nose touches.

  Result: Experiment 1: There was no significant difference in the number of correct nose touch, the number of wrong nose touch, movement distance and average speed among the three groups of rats. Experiment 2: Compared with the light on for 10 s group, the number of correct nose touches in the light on for 30 s group and the light on for 60 s group was significantly increased (P < 0.05). On the 14th day, the correct rate of nose touch was significantly higher (P < 0.001). Experiment 3: There was no significant difference in the number of correct nose touches and the correct rate of nose touch between the two groups of rats.

  CONCLUSION: In reward conditioning, red, yellow, and blue stimuli play a similar role in predicting reward. Under the same light stimulation, the length of stimulation time has an impact on its academic performance. Properly prolonging the light stimulation time is conducive to the formation of conditioned reflex in rats. Day/night training had no effect on the acquisition of reward conditioning in rats.