Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 3, 2025
06:25
Author Spotlight: Comparative Imaging of Neural Activity in Awake and Freely Moving States
Published on: January 19, 2024
1.2K
Chronic, cortex-wide imaging of specific cell populations during behavior
Joao Couto1,2, Simon Musall3,4, Xiaonan R Sun1,5
1Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Neuroscience, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
Nature Protocols
|June 2, 2021
Summary
This study presents an accessible protocol for wide-field imaging of genetically encoded indicators in mice. It enables cost-effective, high-throughput measurement of neuronal activity across the cortex for behavioral neuroscience research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Genetics
Background:
- Understanding neural activity is key to cognitive and motor processes.
- Current cellular-resolution techniques are costly and technically demanding.
- Wide-field imaging offers a high-throughput, cost-effective alternative.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive protocol for assembling and utilizing a wide-field macroscope.
- To detail surgical procedures for chronic imaging in behaving mice.
- To introduce cloud-based methods for analyzing large-scale neural datasets.
Main Methods:
- Assembly and calibration of a wide-field macroscope.
- Surgical preparation of transgenic mice for intact-skull chronic imaging.
- Imaging neuronal activity during behavior and subsequent data analysis using cloud-based pipelines.
Main Results:
- A complete protocol is described, requiring only 8 hours for assembly, surgery, imaging, and analysis.
- The method allows for cortex-wide imaging with high temporal resolution.
- The protocol is accessible to labs with limited imaging expertise.
Conclusions:
- This protocol democratizes advanced neural imaging techniques.
- It facilitates high-throughput, cost-effective study of brain activity in behaving animals.
- The approach supports research into neural correlates of behavior and cognition.
