Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Distributed neural codes of the 3D position in the marmoset frontal cortex and hippocampus.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Evolutionary convergence and divergence of hippocampal cytoarchitecture between rodents and primates revealed by single-cell spatial transcriptomics.

National science review·2026

Same author

The Dorsal CA2 to Ventral CA1 Circuit Contributes to Spatial and Context-Dependent Memories.

Neuroscience bulletin·2025

Same author

Correction to: A Virtual Reality Platform for Context-Dependent Cognitive Research in Rodents.

Neuroscience bulletin·2025

Same author

Author Correction: An intein-split transactivator for intersectional neural imaging and optogenetic manipulation.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Mesoscopic connectome enters the new age of single-neuron projectome.

Clinical and translational medicine·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 22, 2025

An Open-Source Virtual Reality System for the Measurement of Spatial Learning in Head-Restrained Mice

An Open-Source Virtual Reality System for the Measurement of Spatial Learning in Head-Restrained Mice

Published on: March 3, 2023

A Virtual Reality Platform for Context-Dependent Cognitive Research in Rodents.

Xue-Tong Qu^1,2,3, Jin-Ni Wu^1,2,3, Yunqing Wen¹

¹Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.

Neuroscience Bulletin

|November 8, 2022

Summary

Researchers developed a high-performance virtual reality (VR) platform for studying adaptive behaviors. This new VR system enables detailed investigation into how mice recognize and react to environmental contexts, revealing insights into cognitive flexibility.

Keywords:

Ca2+ imaging Contextual behavior Hippocampus Learning and memory Place cell Spatial context Virtual reality

More Related Videos

Behavioral Training Procedures for Head-fixed Virtual Reality in Mice

Behavioral Training Procedures for Head-fixed Virtual Reality in Mice

Published on: September 6, 2024

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

Published on: April 15, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2025

An Open-Source Virtual Reality System for the Measurement of Spatial Learning in Head-Restrained Mice

An Open-Source Virtual Reality System for the Measurement of Spatial Learning in Head-Restrained Mice

Published on: March 3, 2023

Behavioral Training Procedures for Head-fixed Virtual Reality in Mice

Behavioral Training Procedures for Head-fixed Virtual Reality in Mice

Published on: September 6, 2024

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

Published on: April 15, 2014

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Behavioral Science
Virtual Reality Technology

Background:

Adaptive behaviors are crucial for animal survival in changing environments.
Virtual reality (VR) offers controlled environments to study neural mechanisms of behavior.
Existing VR tools for rodents lack the flexibility and performance needed for advanced cognitive research.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a high-performance, configurable virtual reality (VR) platform for studying context-dependent behaviors in rodents.
To investigate the neural basis of contextual cognition using large-scale neural recordings within immersive virtual environments.
To assess the impact of virtual environmental context manipulation on cognitive task performance in mice.

Main Methods:

Development of a modular, high-performance VR platform with custom software for editable virtual contexts.
Training mice to perform various context-dependent cognitive tasks (e.g., discrimination, delayed-sample-to-match).
Simultaneous recording of thousands of hippocampal place cells during VR task performance and context manipulation.

Main Results:

Mice successfully performed context-dependent cognitive tasks within the developed VR platform.
Context recognition remained intact when partial environmental elements were present.
Context recognition was impaired when virtual context elements were exchanged, indicating sensitivity to specific cues.

Conclusions:

The study establishes a versatile and high-performance VR platform for immersive cognitive research in rodents.
This platform facilitates large-scale neural recordings to investigate the neural underpinnings of context-dependent cognition.
Findings highlight the importance of specific environmental cues for accurate context recognition in cognitive tasks.