How does the brain produce behavior? Studying the brain during behavior is most informative when the animal is free to interact with its environment in any way it chooses. This requires small head-mounted devices that provide access to the brain, but that do not interfere with the animal’s behavior.
“We are interested in how freely behaving animals use vision to make decisions in their everyday life, and as many of the brain cells that are thought to be involved in this process are located deep in the visual cortex, we made a very light-weight head-mounted microscope that can measure activity from these neurons but does not interfere with the animal’s behavior. We have made a large step towards finally imaging brain activity deep in the cortex of animals performing natural visual-based behaviors” said the senior author.
In the study that is published in Nature Methods, the researchers developed a miniature 2-gram three-photon excitation microscope which delivers a number of firsts. For the first time, it is now possible to image neural activity on a single-cell level from all cortical layers without having to interfere with the animal’s behavior, made possible by a remote focusing mechanism.
Its modular design also offers a high-resolution configuration which allows for functional recordings from neuronal somata and dendrites. Another important feature is that, due to a modified detector system, the microscope can be used in fully lit conditions.
“The robustness of our new miniature microscope to ambient light allows us to image the brain’s activity while the animal is having access to its full sensory repertoire. We can now study visually guided natural behavior like prey hunting and predator avoidance” says the first author of the study. To confirm range and stability of the new miniature three-photon microscope, the team imaged from the deep cortical layers 4 (L4) and 6 (L6) while mice were freely exploring an arena. It turned out that L4 and L6 neurons were differentially modulated depending on the environmental light.
As the microscope can easily be mounted again at the exact same position, the same neuronal populations can be imaged in follow-up sessions spread over days. This opens up the possibility to monitor changes in the brain’s activity, for example while the animal is learning.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-022-01688-9
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fa-three-photon-head&filter=25
Imaging all layers of visual cortex in freely moving mice
- 1,282 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Metabolic rewiring promotes…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
A drug to prevent flu-induc…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
New origin of deep brain waves
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Starving cells hijack prote…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Miniature battery-free epid…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Other Top Stories
Structure of the 2nd human cannabinoid receptor revealed!
Read more
Clues to brain differences between males and females discovered!
Read more
What if a special diet could reduce inflammation and repair your gut?
Read more
Gut immune cells operate differently
Read more
Gene analysis links mouth ulcers to immune system!
Read more
Protocols
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Modular dual-color BiAD sen…
By newseditor
Posted 31 Mar
Publications
How does the microbiota con…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The integrated stress respo…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The immunobiology of herpes…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Circulating microbiome DNA…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Spindle oscillations in com…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar