BACKGROUND: For reasons of cost and ethical concerns, models of @entity179 such as @entity2033 ( @entity2033 ) are currently being developed in farm animals, as an alternative to non- @entity1 primates. Developing reliable methods of testing cognitive function is essential to determining the usefulness of such models. Nevertheless, cognitive testing of farm animal species presents a unique set of challenges. The primary aims of this study were to develop and validate a mobile operant system suitable for high throughput cognitive testing of @entity742 . NEW METHOD: We designed a semi-automated testing system with the capability of presenting stimuli (visual, auditory) and reward at six spatial locations. Fourteen normal @entity742 were used to validate the system using a two-choice visual discrimination task. Four stages of training devised to acclimatise animals to the system are also presented. RESULTS: All @entity742 progressed rapidly through the training stages, over eight sessions. All @entity742 learned the 2CVDT and performed at least one reversal stage. The mean number of trials the @entity742 took to reach criterion in the first acquisition learning was 13.9  1.5 and for the reversal learning was 19.1  1.8. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): This is the first mobile semi-automated operant system developed for testing cognitive function in @entity742 . CONCLUSIONS: We have designed and validated an automated operant behavioural testing system suitable for high throughput cognitive testing in @entity742 and other medium-sized quadrupeds, such as @entity1707 and @entity235 . @entity742 performance in the two-choice visual discrimination task was very similar to that reported for non- @entity1 primates and strongly supports the use of farm animals as pre-clinical models for the study of @entity179 .

A mobile, high-throughput semi-automated system for testing cognition in large non-primate animal models of XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['human'] @entity1707 :: ('9823', 'Species') :: ['pigs'] @entity742 :: ('9940', 'Species') :: ['sheep', 'Sheep'] @entity235 :: ('9615', 'Species') :: ['dogs'] @entity2033 :: ('MESH:D006816', 'Disease') :: ['Huntington disease', 'HD'] @entity179 :: ('MESH:D019636', 'Disease') :: ['neurodegenerative disorders', 'neurodegenerative diseases']
@entity2033 :: (MESH:D006816,Disease) :: ['Huntington disease']
