New Open-Source Experimental Suite for 3D experiments in monkeys, humans, and artificially intelligent agents

Our new open-source suite for experiments in virtual 3D environments is accepted at J Neurosci Methods and downloadable here. This suite is a complete software (using Unity3D) and hardware (using Arduinos) solution for conducting experiments in 3D environments. It allows running the same experiment in touchscreen, gaze control, or joystick mode (for humans and animals), AND to run the same experiment with a screenshot-based artificial intelligence (reinforcement learning) agent.
The suite comes with an extensive User Manual, Instructions to get started and Example Experiments using traditional 2D and more complex 3D renderings. See: Watson et al (2019) USE: An integrative suite for temporally-precise psychophysical experiments in virtual environments in human, nonhuman and artificially intelligent agents. J Neurosci Methods.

Related News

A Novel Monkey Kiosk: Cognitive Enrichment and Cognitive Assessment

We now published the hardware and software design for a novel Monkey Kiosk Station that provides cognitive enrichment and the ability to assess cognition with cage-based touchscreen tasks. The paper and its appendix with the technical details are available here.

Interneuron-specific gamma synchrony indexes uncertainty resolution

Our new paper in eLife shows that a subclass of fast spiking interneurons in prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex gamma synchronizes when uncertainty about cues and outcomes is resolved. This finding was possible by classifying narrow spiking neurons into fast and non-fast spiking classes and correlating their firing and spike-LFP synchrony during processing of attention […]

Large-scale support awarded for advanced Neuro-Behavioral Monitoring

Thilo Womelsdorf, Kari Hoffman and eight more members of a large-scale initiative received a large-scale infrastructure support grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, amounting to $3.1M federal support. This extraordinary award allows establishing – in Toronto- an advanced neuroscience infrastructure for conducting research of brain activity and behavior close to real world settings. For a press release see […]