Developing a Novel Touchscreen-based Test of Cognitive Judgement Bias
Abstract
Cognitive judgement bias (CJB) refers to the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli in a negative (pessimistic) or positive (optimistic) way. Negative CJB is observed in depression and anxiety, conditions that burden affected individuals and caregivers. Pre-clinical animal research is key to understanding CJB and developing therapies, so a translationally relevant CJB test would be a useful addition to the existing pre-clinical rodent touchscreen test battery. We pharmacologically validated a mouse touchscreen CJB task using bupropion and tetrabenazine, agents known to induce positive and negative CJB, respectively. Additionally, we validated the task using an ecologically relevant stressor (injection and handling). Bupropion produced an optimistic-like shift in CJB whereas both tetrabenazine and saline injection 30 minutes prior to testing produced pessimistic-like shifts in CJB. These results provide a validated task to assess CJB in mice, which will allow us to ask future questions surrounding its underlying neurobiology and develop treatments for affective disorders.