Comparator Dual Lick Port

<h4><b>Summary</b></h4><p dir="ltr">Lick sensors can be important tools in determining licking and drinking behavior of rodents during behavioral and neuroscience research. Commercially available lick sensors generally utilize either electrical, optical or force sensors in measuring licking and drinking behavior. A common problem with commercially available lick sensors is the production of significant electrical artifacts during recording of neural signals.<br><br>To measure neural signals without the production of electrical artifacts, researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus have developed a Comparator Dual Lick Port Detector. The detector is designed to monitor a contact-type lick port without generating electrical interference on neural signals, to minimize sensation to subject animals and to allow fast detection of neural signals. The developed system modulates a signal at the lick port and analyzes the signal for changes due to attenuation (resistance change) or phase (due to capacitive change).<br><br>In “A low-cost solution to measure mouse licking in an electrophysiological setup with a standard analog-to-digital” by Abdallah Hayar, Jeri L. Bryant, John D. Boughter, and Detlef H. Heck in J Neurosci Methods (2006 June 15), a lick detection method is described that measures the potential difference caused by a rodent lick on a metal lick port using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The detection was robust and did not create artifacts in electrophysiological recordings. This method was tested at Janelia and found to work well. This novel system was designed to make the design cheaper and self-contained. An adjustable threshold comparator was substituted for the ADC and the circuit was opto-isolated.</p><h4><b>Benefit</b></h4><ul><li>Monitors a contact-type lick port without generating electrical interference on neural signals</li><li>Enables fast detection time of less than one millisecond</li><li>Minimizes sensations to subject animals thereby improving signal monitoring</li></ul><h4><b>Market Application</b></h4><ul><li>Behavioral monitoring in animal research studies</li><li>Animal research studies related primarily to neuronal circuit research</li></ul><p dir="ltr"><b>Use</b></p><p dir="ltr">Free to make for Non-Profit Research by downloading designs at GitHub link. <b><u>Please cite this DOI.</u></b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Other</b></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Supersedes Flintbox ID: Janelia​ </i><i>2019-053</i></p><p dir="ltr">Link to <a href="https://www.janelia.org/open-science/modulated-lick-port-detector" target="_blank">Janelia Open Science Page</a></p>