{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T15:02:42Z","timestamp":1786978962612,"version":"build-2736575974"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,9]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":23,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,9]],"date-time":"2026-08-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786233600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000026","name":"National Institute on Drug Abuse","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["5T32DA055569"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["5T32DA055569"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000026","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000027","name":"National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["5R01AA030594"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["5R01AA030594"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000027","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Head-fixed behavior in rodents is a foundational technique in systems neuroscience which enables use of sophisticated imaging techniques in combination with animal behavior. However, accessibility of head-fixed behavior techniques is limited. Animal training consumes a large amount of experimenter labor and commercial setups, when available, are largely inflexible and financially burdensome. Here, we present a low-cost, modular, and open-source hardware and software implementation for head-fixed rodent decision-making tasks. Our design lowers experimenter labor and enables large teams of researchers to participate in animal training with minimal experimenter error using a simple touchscreen GUI and automated training progression. We demonstrate the efficacy of the platform by training a cohort of animals in a two-choice probabilistic rapid-reversal task in which mice continuously update action choices based on recent reward history. The presented design lowers the barrier to entry for laboratories seeking to conduct head-fixed rodent behavior and provides modular solutions for developing custom rigs based on experimental demands.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Significance Statement<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Head-fixation in behaving rodents is a common neuroscience procedure that enables the use of electrical or optical techniques for neural circuit interrogation. While commercial head-fixed behavior platforms are available, their high cost and inflexibility make them unsuitable for modification or high-throughput training. This study presents a novel open-source hardware and software system for mouse head-fixed behavior. The modular design and use of low-cost components enable broad adaptability across behavioral tasks, compatibility with practical research demands, and significantly lowers the barrier to entry to head-fixed behavioral research.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.08.03.742587","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,9]],"date-time":"2026-08-09T12:45:18Z","timestamp":1786279518000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Low-Cost, Modular Hardware and Software Platform for Head-Fixed Mouse Decision-Making Tasks"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3360-986X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maxwell B.","family":"Madden","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahee","family":"Khatri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arnav","family":"Mohanty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Disha","family":"Prasad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0915-8990","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nancy","family":"Collie-Beard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6814-9966","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafiq","family":"Huda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University\u2013New Brunswick, Piscataway, NJ, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/elife.67846"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-022-28983-5"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0226-23.2023"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.adv5652"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaz9468"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.6","first-page":"241","article-title":"Methods for recording activity of individual neurons in moving animals","volume":"2","year":"1966","journal-title":"Methods in medical research"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.7","first-page":"e67312","article-title":"Behavioral Training Procedures for Head-fixed Virtual Reality in Mice","volume":"211","year":"2024","journal-title":"JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0088678"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroscience.2017.09.003"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.143.3611.1190"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.11","first-page":"137","article-title":"Microelectrode analysis of cortical cell discharge during avoidance conditioning in the monkey","volume":"131","year":"1960","journal-title":"Int J Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jung, F. , Cao, X. , Heymans, L. , & Carl\u00e9n, M . (2025). The DMC-Behavior Platform: An Open-Source Framework for Auditory-Guided Perceptual Decision-Making in Head-Fixed Mice. eNeuro, 12(4).","DOI":"10.1523\/ENEURO.0457-24.2025"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/elife.63711"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.14","first-page":"200","article-title":"Pupil dynamics reflect behavioral choice and learning in a Go\/NoGo tactile decision-making task in mice","volume":"10","year":"2016","journal-title":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.15","first-page":"7","article-title":"Bonsai: an event-based framework for processing and controlling data streams","volume":"9","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front Neuroinform"},{"key":"2026081707201147000_2026.08.03.742587v3.16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ozgur, A. , Park, S. B. , Flores, A. Y. , Oijala, M. , & Lur, G . (2023). 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