Intra/Extradimensional Set Shifting

The intradimensional/extradimensional (ID/ED) set-shifting task is a translational assay for attentional set formation and cognitive flexibility, originally adapted from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) for use in rodents. The task presents compound stimuli that vary along two perceptual dimensions (e.g., odor and texture, or visual shape and line pattern). Subjects learn a discrimination rule along one dimension, form an attentional set through intradimensional shifts (new exemplars, same relevant dimension), and must then break that set during the extradimensional shift (the previously irrelevant dimension becomes relevant).

The ED shift is the critical stage: it requires suppression of a well-established attentional bias and reallocation of attention to a previously ignored dimension. This shift is selectively impaired by lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex in rodents (equivalent to dorsolateral PFC in primates) and is sensitive to serotonergic and noradrenergic manipulations. The number of trials to criterion at each stage provides a detailed profile of discrimination learning, reversal, and set-shifting abilities.

ConductMaze automates the ID/ED task in a digging bowl or touchscreen format: it manages stimulus presentation order, randomizes compound configurations, tracks digging choices or screen touches, scores correct/incorrect responses, and advances the animal through stages based on configurable criterion rules (e.g., 6 consecutive correct). The software supports the full 7-stage protocol (SD, CD, CDR, IDS, IDR, EDS, EDR) with automated data logging.