Chronic imaging through "transparent skull" in mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Imaging
• Surgical Techniques

Background:

• Longitudinal imaging of the brain requires methods for observing an intact cortex.
• Current techniques like cranial windows can be invasive and have limitations for extended studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a "transparent skull" (TS) preparation for long-term in vivo imaging of the mouse brain.
• To evaluate the TS method's suitability for studying cortical structure and function over time.

Main Methods:

• A detailed protocol for skull clearing using cyanoacrylate to create the transparent skull (TS) preparation.
• Characterization of TS properties for intrinsic optical signal imaging and comparison with conventional cranial windows.
• Application of the TS method in experiments involving antidepressant treatment and monocular deprivation.

Main Results:

• The TS preparation provides stable transparency for at least two months.
• TS imaging is less invasive and yields comparable data to cranial windows.
• Demonstrated fluoxetine treatment restores critical-period-like plasticity in the mouse visual cortex.

Conclusions:

• The transparent skull (TS) preparation is a viable and less invasive method for long-term visualization of the living mouse brain.
• This technique facilitates longitudinal studies of cortical structure and function.
• The TS method supports research into brain plasticity and the effects of treatments like fluoxetine.