Widefield imaging

Optical & ultrasound (in vivo) · reads

A macroscope illuminates the dorsal cortex with blue light and records GCaMP fluorescence with a camera while the mouse is head-fixed. Clear dental cement and a coverslip make the intact skull suitable for chronic imaging; the demonstrated window spans about 11 × 9 mm across both hemispheres. The images follow cortical calcium activity across regions. Fluorescence mixes contributions from different tissue depths, and scattering broadens the signal, so camera pixels do not identify individual neurons.

Temporal resolution

16.7 ms (sample interval)

Reads

GCaMP fluorescence; inferred cortical calcium activity

Destructive?

non-destructive

Prerequisites

germline genetic engineering: Use mice expressing GCaMP6 through transgenic crosses.; surgery: Remove the overlying scalp, gently clear connective tissue from the intact skull, and attach transparent dental cement, a coverslip and a head-fixation screw.; anesthesia: Use isoflurane during window preparation; subsequent recordings can be performed awake.; other: Head-fix the mouse under the macroscope during recording.

Description

A macroscope illuminates the dorsal cortex with blue light and records GCaMP fluorescence with a camera while the mouse is head-fixed. Clear dental cement and a coverslip make the intact skull suitable for chronic imaging; the demonstrated window spans about 11 × 9 mm across both hemispheres. The images follow cortical calcium activity across regions. Fluorescence mixes contributions from different tissue depths, and scattering broadens the signal, so camera pixels do not identify individual neurons.

Download the dataset (JSON, described by its JSON Schema).

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