Miniature microscopes for large-scale imaging of neuronal activity in freely behaving rodents

• Published in: Current opinion in neurobiology Vol. 32; pp. 141 - 147
• Main Authors: Ziv, Yaniv, Ghosh, Kunal K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Intravital Microscopy - instrumentation; Intravital Microscopy - methods; Neurology; Neurons - physiology; Optical Imaging - instrumentation; Optical Imaging - methods; Psychiatry
• ISSN: 0959-4388; 1873-6882; 1873-6882
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2015.04.001

•We discuss the use of the miniature fluorescence microscopes in neuroscience.•The recent development of the integrated microscope allows large-scale, longitudinal, and cell-type specific Ca2+ imaging in freely behaving mice.•We propose that the integrated microscope enables new types of neuroscience studies. Recording neuronal activity in behaving subjects has been instrumental in studying how information is represented and processed by the brain. Recent advances in optical imaging and bioengineering have converged to enable time-lapse, cell-type specific recordings of neuronal activities from large neuronal populations in deep-brain structures of freely behaving rodents. We will highlight these advancements, with an emphasis on miniaturized integrated microscopy for large-scale imaging in freely behaving mice. This technology potentially enables studies that were difficult to perform using previous generation imaging and current electrophysiological techniques. These studies include longitudinal and population-level analyses of neuronal representations associated with different types of naturalistic behaviors and cognitive or emotional processes.