The dynamic strategy shifting task: Optimisation of an operant task for assessing cognitive flexibility in rats.
Frontiers in psychiatry January 1, 2024 Jonathan Martin Flintoff, Suzy Alexander, James Paul Kesby et al. 3 citations
Cognitive flexibility, the ability to adapt behavior to changing rules, is impaired in schizophrenia and predicts functional outcomes, yet antipsychotics do not improve it. A novel dynamic strategy shifting task (DSST) was optimized in operant chambers for rats, requiring a minimum of 6 correct consecutive responses to switch between spatial and non-spatial rules. Testing 84 Sprague Dawley rats with acute ketamine (0, 3, 10 mg/kg) showed fewer premature and more perseverant responses to initiate trials. Ketamine significantly improved reversal of a non-spatial visual discrimination rule but had no effect on spatial visual or response discrimination rules. The DSST provides a rapid assay for distinct forms of cognitive flexibility relevant to neuropsychiatric conditions.