An Automated Visual Psychophysics Method to Measure Visual Function in Swine Preclinical Animal Model

TL;DR

Researchers developed a touchscreen-based test to measure visual function in pigs, enabling automated and repeatable assessments for preclinical ophthalmology studies.

Contribution

The study introduces an automated visual psychophysics method for measuring contrast sensitivity in swine, a large animal model.

Findings

Three Göttingen pigs were successfully trained to perform a visual psychophysics test within a week.

Animals could self-run multiple trials without human intervention after initial training.

Pigs retained the task and performed well even after a month with minimal reinforcement.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a test to assess visual function in pigs using the visual psychophysics contrast sensitivity function.

We utilized a touchscreen along with a pellet reward dispenser to train three Göttingen pigs on a visual psychophysics test and determined their contrast sensitivity function. Images with different contrast resolutions were used as visual stimuli and presented against a control image in a two-choice test. Following animals’ acclimatization and the first phase of training, the system was arranged such that animals could self-run multiple consecutive trials without human intervention.

All animals were trained within a week and remembered the task with 1 day of reinforcement when tested 1 month after the last visual assessment. All trained animals performed well during the trial with minimal screen side bias, especially at contrast threshold above 40%.

Göttingen pigs are trainable for a visual psychophysics test and able to self-run the trial without human intervention.

Contrast sensitivity is one of the key parameters to assess visual function in humans. The possibility of measuring the same parameters in a large animal model allows for a better translation and understanding of drug safety and efficacy in preclinical ophthalmology.

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