A motor-driven miniature multiple microelectrode manipulator for recording from the cortical neuropile of the awake...

An improved version of the Blum and Feldman multiple microelectrode manipulator is described. The main innovation is a design based on miniaturization and light weight (75 g), which allows head mounting with minimal disturbance to the animal in awake monkey operant behavior studies. The major features of the previously described model are preserved: simultaneous independent manipulation of four microelectrodes, in order to record from at least four single units, that may be crosscorrelated. With the new design better adjustment of intermicroelectrode distances for studies of interneural distances of 300 microns to 7 mm, and an easier automatic, computer-controlled monitoring of distances transversed into the brain are possible.