SHIELD: Skull-shaped hemispheric implants enabling large-scale electrophysiology datasets in the mouse brain
Corbett Bennett1, Ben Ouellette1, Tamina K Ramirez2
1Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Neuron
|July 12, 2024
Summary
Skull-shaped hemispheric implants (SHIELD) enable large-scale brain recordings in mice. This method overcomes surgical challenges, revealing new insights into neural computation and brain rhythms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Electrophysiology
- Surgical Implantation
Background:
- Understanding the neural basis of behavior requires measuring spiking dynamics across interacting brain regions.
- Existing technologies like Neuropixels probes face surgical and procedural limitations for multi-regional recordings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel surgical method for large-scale electrophysiology in mice.
- To overcome limitations of current multi-regional recording techniques.
Main Methods:
- Development of 3D-printed, skull-replacement implants (SHIELD) with customizable insertion holes.
- Repeated multi-probe insertions over days to record from dozens of cortical and subcortical structures in a single mouse.
- Demonstration of compatibility with imaging and optogenetics.
Main Results:
- SHIELD procedure shows a high success rate and excellent biocompatibility.
- The implants have no adverse effects on animal behavior.
- Multi-probe recordings revealed novel insights into alpha rhythm organization of spiking activity across visual and sensorimotor networks.
Conclusions:
- SHIELD implants enable powerful, large-scale electrophysiological experiments.
- This method facilitates the study of distributed neural computation.
- The technique advances the potential of multi-regional neural recordings.
