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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

Full field-of-view virtual reality goggles for mice.

Domonkos Pinke¹, John B Issa¹, Gabriel A Dara¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.

|December 9, 2023

Summary

Researchers developed new virtual reality (VR) goggles for mice, improving visual field coverage and stereo illumination. This novel system enhances behavioral studies and neural imaging of the hippocampus during virtual navigation and threat responses.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Science
Biomedical Engineering

Background:

Investigating neural circuitry in mice using virtual reality (VR) offers advantages over real-world studies.
Current VR systems for mice have limitations including incomplete visual field coverage, lack of stereoscopic illumination in the binocular zone, and visibility of the lab environment.

Purpose of the Study:

To overcome the limitations of existing VR systems for mice.
To develop a compact VR goggle system with enhanced visual capabilities for behavioral neuroscience research.

Main Methods:

Development of Miniature Rodent Stereo Illumination VR (iMRSIV) goggles providing an approximately 180° field of view per eye.
Stereoscopic illumination of the binocular zone and exclusion of the lab frame.

Keywords:

goggles hippocampus immersion looming mouse navigation place cells spatial behaviors two-photon microscopy virtual reality

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Integration of iMRSIV with two-photon functional imaging for neural activity recording.

Main Results:

Mice using iMRSIV navigated virtual environments faster and exhibited freezing/fleeing responses to looming stimuli compared to monitor-based systems.
Large populations of hippocampal place cells were identified during virtual navigation.
Global remapping of place cells occurred during environmental changes, with unique responses to looming stimuli.

Conclusions:

The iMRSIV system significantly improves VR-based behavioral and neural investigations in mice.
The system enables detailed study of hippocampal place cell dynamics and responses to virtual stimuli.
iMRSIV facilitates advanced research into neural circuits underlying behavior in a controlled VR environment.