Miniscope-LFOV: A large-field-of-view, single-cell-resolution, miniature microscope for wired and wire-free imaging of neural dynamics in freely behaving animals

Changliang Guo; Garrett J Blair; Megha Sehgal; Federico N Sangiuliano Jimka; Arash Bellafard; Alcino J Silva; Peyman Golshani; Michele A Basso; Hugh Tad Blair; Daniel Aharoni

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adg3918

Miniscope-LFOV: A large-field-of-view, single-cell-resolution, miniature microscope for wired and wire-free imaging of neural dynamics in freely behaving animals

Sci Adv. 2023 Apr 21;9(16):eadg3918. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg3918. Epub 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Changliang Guo^{1

2

3

4}, Garrett J Blair^{5

6}, Megha Sehgal^{3

5

7

8}, Federico N Sangiuliano Jimka^{1

2

3

4}, Arash Bellafard^{1

2}, Alcino J Silva^{3

5

7

8}, Peyman Golshani^{1

2

3

4

7

9

10

11}, Michele A Basso^{1

4

7

8

9}, Hugh Tad Blair⁵, Daniel Aharoni^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Integrative Center for Learning and Memory, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
⁶ Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁸ Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁹ Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
¹⁰ West LA Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA.
¹¹ Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Abstract

Imaging large-population, single-cell fluorescent dynamics in freely behaving animals larger than mice remains a key endeavor of neuroscience. We present a large-field-of-view open-source miniature microscope (MiniLFOV) designed for large-scale (3.6 mm × 2.7 mm), cellular resolution neural imaging in freely behaving rats. It has an electrically adjustable working distance of up to 3.5 mm ± 100 μm, incorporates an absolute head orientation sensor, and weighs only 13.9 g. The MiniLFOV is capable of both deep brain and cortical imaging and has been validated in freely behaving rats by simultaneously imaging >1000 GCaMP7s-expressing neurons in the hippocampal CA1 layer and in head-fixed mice by simultaneously imaging ~2000 neurons in the dorsal cortex through a cranial window. The MiniLFOV also supports optional wire-free operation using a novel, wire-free data acquisition expansion board. We expect that this new open-source implementation of the UCLA Miniscope platform will enable researchers to address novel hypotheses concerning brain function in freely behaving animals.

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain* / diagnostic imaging
Brain* / physiology
Head
Mice
Microscopy* / methods
Neurons / physiology
Rats
Skull