Physiology &Behavior,Vol. 21, pp. 781-784. Pergamon Press and Brain Research Publ., 1978. Printed in the U.S.A.

Capacitive Sensor for Lick-by-Lick Recording

of D r i n k i n g I
WILLIAM J. M U N D L AND HELEN P. M A L M O

Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, P. Q. Canada H3A 1AI

( R e c e i v e d 19 M a y 1978)

MUNDL, W. J. AND H. P. MALMO. Capacitivesensorfor lick-by-lickrecording of drinking. PHYSIOL. BEHAV. 22(4)

781-784, 1979.--An electronic device senses the touching of water by the animal's tongue; and each lick is recorded
distinctly as a deflection on paper by an oscillograph. From these traces lick rate and any variations therein may be
determined.

Capacitive sensor Lick-by-lick recording Drinking

T H E device described herein is capable of registering indi-
vidual licking actions of an animal's tongue on a Richter
tube, drinking spout or in a dish of water. Since any electric
sensing device capable of serving this purpose necessitates
the application of a voltage and subsequent passing of a cur-
rent via the animal's tongue, the parameter of this current
must be carefully chosen so that it is completely impercepti-
ble to the animal. An even more stringent requirement as to
the type and magnitude of current is imposed when recording
electrophysiological potentials. In this case, any electrical
artifacts introduced by the passing of current through the
animal would be detrimental to the quality of the recording.
A wide variety of commercial lick sensors have been de-
scribed by Weijnen [7]. They all operate on the principle of
passing a direct current via the animal's tongue.
Our experimentation with both direct and alternating cur-
rents (the latter over a frequency range of 15 kHz to 1.5
MHz) revealed that the use of a 200 k H z sensing current
produced the desired artifact-free recordings of brain activ-
ity. Lower frequencies were not sufficiently attenuated by
the recording amplifiers, while a very high frequency (1.5
MHz) is prone to rectification at the interface of recording
electrode and tissue, and thereby introduces artifacts much
like a direct current.
There is a further advantage in amplifying an AC sensing
circuit. It can be based on capacitance-coupling, which elim-
inates the need for placing a metal electrode into the drinking
water.
The described instrument passes a current of approx-
imately 7/xA RMS via the animal. Since this current is at a
frequency of 200 kHz, it propagates largely on the surface of
a conductor (such as the tongue), making it imperceptible to
the animal [1].
Figure 1 shows a paper chart recording of a rat licking
water from a dish. Each time the animal's tongue touches the
water a distinct deflection occurs. The accompanying re-
cording (shown in Fig. 1) of multiple unit activity attests to the
fact that no artifacts were introduced with our recording
technique, which utilized Field Effect Transistors (FETs) in
pairs on each electrode adapter [2, 4, 5, 6]. Head movement
was recorded in order to monitor the animal's behavior more
closely.
CIRCUIT
The sensing electrode is part of a capacitance bridge cir-
cuit (see Fig. 2). The secondary winding of the transformer
constitutes two arms of the bridge; the other two arms are
formed by a variable capacitor (balance) and the capacitance
of the sensing electrode. The bridge is balanced to minimum
meter deflection under the condition that the water dish or
the spout is not being touched, either by the animal or by the
experimenter. The sensing arm of the bridge is comprised of
the capacitance of the sensing electrode to ground. In bal-
ance, i.e., minimum signal appearing at the centre tap of the
transformer, the ratio between capacitance of the sensing
electrode and balancing capacitor is equal to the turns ratio
of the transformer's secondary windings. This is only
theoretical, however, since stray capacitances create a con-
siderable inequality in the winding reactances of this hand-
wound transformer. A ratio of 1:1 was chosen and was found
to provide sufficient sensitivity of the bridge.
An increase in capacitance between the sensing electrode
and ground unbalances the bridge with an ensuing increase in
signal amplitude at the centre tap of the winding. Such a
capacitance increase is created when the animal touches the
water, presupposing that the animal is grounded. This con-
dition can be achieved with the use of a reference electrode,

~Supported in part by Canadian Medical Research Council Grant MA 6438. Thanks are due to R. B. Malmo for assistance with development
of ground electrodes; and S. Aylwin for manuscript typing.

C o p y r i g h t © 1979 B r a i n R e s e a r c h P u b l i c a t i o n s Inc.--0031-9384/79/040781-04502.00/0
782 MUNDL AND MALMO

Licks

2"ov

Pulses of Multiple Unit Activity

Integroted Multiple Unit Activity

Heod Movement (Accelerometer)

0 P 2 sec.
3
i i i I

FIG. 1. Oscillographic recording of a rat licking water from a dish. Multiple-unit activity remains free of artifacts. The accelerometer which
detects head motion was taped close to the rat's head onto the recording cables.

or when the animal is situated on a grounded metal floor. In
the case of concurrent electrophysiological recording, the
reference electrode must provide an efficient ground con-
nection by being in good contact with brain tissue. In order
to avoid artifacts we have found that the ground wire should
be made of bare wire, which extends at least several mm into
the brain of rats.
The signal from the bridge is applied to a source follower,
the high input impedance of which ensures that the current in
the bridge arms (and thereby in the animal) is not addi-
tionally increased. After some amplification (× 18) the signal
is filtered by a twin-T feedback filter [3], rectified and inte-
grated (2.2k resistor and 4700pF capacitor). The amplitude
can be read on the meter and it is also fed to the recorder.
The operational amplifiers must be properly damped to pre-
vent instabilities occurring at the 200 kHz range. Damping
networks are connected to Pins 1 and 8.
The bridge transformer was made of a Phillips' type LA

Oscillator Bridge Source

200KHZ Transformer CapacitanceBridge Follower X 18Amplifier
+~5V ÷lSV
~ To Sen,,ogE,..... d, .l
i

220K
2N3819 % I
Turn~IIi~90 T "~C T

BandpassFilter Rectifier
68K: Meter

T-T ~ 6 " V e K 0~__ ~ K ~ ~ ~ ' " ~ RT°rder

2N249743V

801) 8O0
+,sv II IL~-
IOK IOK

FIG. 2. Circuit diagram. The oscillator is a type P from Allen Organ Co., Macun-
gie, PA. Operational amplifiers are National Semiconductor's.
CAPACITIVE SENSOR FOR RECORDING DRINKING
Drinking Dish
Por¢eloin Dish (60 dlo
FIG. 3. Exploded views showing attachment of sensing electrodes to various
drinking vessels. Electrodes are fashioned from brass shim stock (0.25 mm). Jacks
for the banana plugs are mounted on the wall of the testing chamber.
2106 pot core, wound with 38 ga enameled copper wire. The
number of turns are indicated in Fig. 2. A grounded metal foil
between primary and secondary winding serves as a screen.
The bobbins were attached to the chuck of a hand drill
and the wire guided by hand. With this rather crude proce-
dure it frequently happens that shunt capacitances in the
secondary winding are grossly unbalanced, thus making it
impossible to zero the bridge. Therefore, it is advisable to
wind several bobbins, selecting them for acceptable per-
formance when the circuit is in the breadboard stage. A
trimmer capacitor (CT) provides an additional aid for zeroing
the bridge.
SENSING ELECTRODES
Figure 3 shows three possible configurations for attaching
sensing electrodes to drinking vessels. In each case the elec-
trode establishes capacitive coupling to the drinking water.
As the animal's tongue comes in contact with the water it
effectively puts the sensing electrode at ground potential.
This accomplishes the desired bridge unbalance.
The sensing electrodes are fashioned from thin brass
sheet and are cemented at the places shown. The banana
jacks are mounted on the sides of the test chamber. F o r the
Richter tube, a bracket to secure its top to the wall is neces-
sary.
The porcelain dish is cemented to the aluminum frame
and the back banana plug is secured to both the phenolic
783
Richter Tube
i
Sensing Efe~troae
• #
Drinking Spout
S0o
board and to the small bracket. After assembly of the drink-
ing dish, phenolic boards of appropriate size (not shown in
figure) are cemented to the top part and the sloping part of
the aluminum frame. All sensing electrodes should be suffi-
ciently covered with insulating material to prevent them
from becoming wet and from being touched by the animal;
epoxy cement is used on the dish, plastic tape on the Richter
tube and vinyl tubing on the spout. A convenient way of
testing the apparatus is by touching the water with one's
finger. The meter deflection and the recorder write-out can
then be conveniently observed.
Close approach of the animal or the experimenter to the
drinking vessel, or the fluid in it, causes only negligible
bridge unbalance. It is not sufficient to register an erroneous
lick response.
Care must be taken to ensure that the animal makes con-
tact with the water solely through its tongue; touching the
water with any other part of its body would cause the sensing
circuit to respond. Since the animals frequently place their
paws on the rim of the dish, its height must be such that the
toes cannot reach the water level. To prevent the paws from
touching the water in the spout, the latter may be recessed
into the vinyl tubing (Fig. 3), or into a piece of suitable glass
tubing [7]. A similar recessing arrangement might be neces-
sary for the Richter tube. The extent of the need for such
arrangement would depend on experimental factors, such as
trial time and the behavior pattern of the animals.
784
REFERENCES
1. Dalziel, C. F. Electric shock hazard. IEEE Spectrum 9: 41-50,
1972.
2. Malmo, H. P. and R. B. Malmo. Movement-related forebrain and
midbrain multiple unit activity in rats. Electroenceph. clin.
Neurophysiol. 42: 501-509, 1977.
3. Mundl, W. J. Practical design of low-frequency bandpass filters.
Med. Biol. Engng. 6: 203-207, 1968.
4. Mundl, W. J. Stretching of analogue pulses. Electron. Engng. 41:
215-217, 1969.
MUNDL AND MALMO
5. Mundl, W. J. Preamplifier for recording of multiple-unit activity
from moving animals. Physiol. Behav. 6: 617-618, 1970.
6. Ranck Jr., J. B. A movable microelectrode for recording from
single neurons in unrestrained rats. In: Brain Unit Activity Dur-
ing Behavior, edited by M. I. Phillips. Springfield: Thomas, 1973,
pp. 76--79.
7. Weijnen, J. A. W. M. The recording of licking behavior. In:
Drinking Behavior: Oral Sthnulation, Reinforcement, and Pref-
erence, edited by J. A. W. M. Weijnen and J. Mendelson. New
York: Plenum, 1977, pp. 93-114.