Demixing fluorescence time traces transmitted by multimode fibers.

Optical methods based on thin multimode fibers (MMFs) are promising tools for measuring neuronal activity in deep brain regions of freely moving mice thanks to their small diameter. However, current methods are limited: while fiber photometry provides only ensemble activity, imaging techniques using of long multimode fibers are very sensitive to bending and have not been applied to unrestrained rodents yet. Here, we demonstrate the fundamentals of a new approach using a short MMF coupled to a miniscope.

Neurophotonics beyond the surface: unmasking the brain's complexity exploiting optical scattering.

The intricate nature of the brain necessitates the application of advanced probing techniques to comprehensively study and understand its working mechanisms. Neurophotonics offers minimally invasive methods to probe the brain using optics at cellular and even molecular levels. However, multiple challenges persist, especially concerning imaging depth, field of view, speed, and biocompatibility.

Neurophotonics beyond the Surface: Unmasking the Brain's Complexity Exploiting Optical Scattering.

The intricate nature of the brain necessitates the application of advanced probing techniques to comprehensively study and understand its working mechanisms. Neurophotonics offers minimally invasive methods to probe the brain using optics at cellular and even molecular levels. However, multiple challenges persist, especially concerning imaging depth, field of view, speed, and biocompatibility.

Fast optical recording of neuronal activity by three-dimensional custom-access serial holography.

Optical recording of neuronal activity in three-dimensional (3D) brain circuits at cellular and millisecond resolution in vivo is essential for probing information flow in the brain. While random-access multiphoton microscopy permits fast optical access to neuronal targets in three dimensions, the method is challenged by motion artifacts when recording from behaving animals. Therefore, we developed three-dimensional custom-access serial holography (3D-CASH).

Fast confocal fluorescence imaging in freely behaving mice.

Fluorescence imaging in the brain of freely behaving mice is challenging due to severe miniaturization constraints. In particular, the ability to image a large field of view at high temporal resolution and with efficient out-of-focus background rejection still raises technical difficulties. Here, we present a novel fiberscope system that provides fast (up to 200 Hz) background-free fluorescence imaging in freely behaving mice over a field of view of diameter 230 μm.

Fast spatial beam shaping by acousto-optic diffraction for 3D non-linear microscopy.

Acousto-optic deflection (AOD) devices offer unprecedented fast control of the entire spatial structure of light beams, most notably their phase. AOD light modulation of ultra-short laser pulses, however, is not straightforward to implement because of intrinsic chromatic dispersion and non-stationarity of acousto-optic diffraction. While schemes exist to compensate chromatic dispersion, non-stationarity remains an obstacle.

Spatially selective holographic photoactivation and functional fluorescence imaging in freely behaving mice with a fiberscope.

Correlating patterned neuronal activity to defined animal behaviors is a core goal in neuroscience. Optogenetics is one large step toward achieving this goal, yet optical methods to control neural activity in behaving rodents have so far been limited to perturbing all light-sensitive neurons in a large volume. Here we demonstrate an all-optical method for precise spatial control and recording of neuronal activity in anesthetized and awake freely behaving mice.

Emergence of population bursts from simultaneous activation of small subsets of preBötzinger complex inspiratory neurons.

During rhythmic movements, central pattern generators (CPGs) trigger bursts of motor activity with precise timing. However, the number of neurons that must be activated within CPGs to generate motor output is unknown. In the mammalian breathing rhythm, a fundamentally important motor behavior, the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC) produces synchronous population-wide bursts of activity to control inspiratory movements.

Three-dimensional imaging and photostimulation by remote-focusing and holographic light patterning.

Access to three-dimensional structures in the brain is fundamental to probe signal processing at multiple levels, from integration of synaptic inputs to network activity mapping. Here, we present an optical method for independent three-dimensional photoactivation and imaging by combination of digital holography with remote-focusing. We experimentally demonstrate compensation of spherical aberration for out-of-focus imaging in a range of at least 300 μm, as well as scanless imaging along oblique planes.

Impact of pulse polarization on coherent vibrational ladder climbing signals.

We report a theoretical study that elaborates the influence of the polarization state of both the pump and the probe pulse in ultrafast coherent vibrational ladder climbing experiments in the mid-infrared. Whereas a subensemble in a randomly oriented sample of molecules is excited by the pump pulse in this multiphoton process, further inhomogeneities such as the spatial profile of the laser beams, the longitudinal attenuation in the sample, and the probe beam polarization have to be taken into account. Analytical expressions for a density function describing the number of molecules that are exposed to an effective pump intensity are introduced, and the variation of the population distribution and the actual transient absorption signal in dependence on the polarization-state combinations for pump and probe pulse are discussed in detail.

Holographic photolysis for multiple cell stimulation in mouse hippocampal slices.

Background: Advanced light microscopy offers sensitive and non-invasive means to image neural activity and to control signaling with photolysable molecules and, recently, light-gated channels. These approaches require precise and yet flexible light excitation patterns. For synchronous stimulation of subsets of cells, they also require large excitation areas with millisecond and micrometric resolution.

Fluorescence endomicroscopy with structured illumination.

We present an endomicroscope apparatus that utilizes structured illumination to produce high resolution (approximately 2.6 microm) optically sectioned fluorescence images over a field of view of about 240 microm. The endomicroscope is based on the use of a flexible imaging fiber bundle with a miniaturized objective.

Dynamic speckle illumination microscopy with wavelet prefiltering.

Dynamic speckle illumination (DSI) provides a simple and robust technique to obtain fluorescence depth sectioning with a widefield microscope. We report a significant improvement to DSI microscopy based on a statistical image-processing algorithm that incorporates spatial wavelet prefiltering. The resultant gain in sectioning strength leads to a fundamentally improved scaling law for the out-of-focus background rejection.

Dynamic speckle illumination microscopy with translated versus randomized speckle patterns.

Dynamic speckle illumination (DSI) microscopy is a widefield fluorescence imaging technique that provides depth discrimination. The technique relies on the illumination of a sample with a sequence of speckle patterns. We consider an image processing algorithm based on a differential intensity variance between consecutive images, and demonstrate that DSI sectioning strength depends on the dynamics of the speckle pattern.

Parametric cascade downconverter for intense ultrafast mid-infrared generation beyond the Manley-Rowe limit.

We propose a scheme to generate intense, ultrafast mid-infrared pulses with conversion efficiencies exceeding the upper bound for single-stage difference-frequency mixing as predicted by the Manley-Rowe relations. Finite-element fast Fourier transform simulations of the mixing process show that the parametric cascade downconverter generates 1.7 times more photons (at 10 microm) than in the initial pump pulse (center wavelength of 1.

Quasi-confocal fluorescence sectioning with dynamic speckle illumination.

We present a simple modification to a conventional wide-field fluorescence microscope that provides depth discrimination in thick tissues. The technique consists of illuminating a sample with a sequence of independent speckle patterns and displaying the rms of the resultant sequence of fluorescence images. The advantage of speckle illumination is that it provides diffraction-limited illumination granularity that is highly contrasted even in scattering media.

Coherent vibrational climbing in carboxyhemoglobin.

We demonstrate vibrational climbing in the CO stretch of carboxyhemoglobin pumped by midinfrared chirped ultrashort pulses. By use of spectrally resolved pump-probe measurements, we directly observed the induced absorption lines caused by excited vibrational populations up to v = 6. In some cases, we also observed stimulated emission, providing direct evidence of vibrational population inversion.

Time-domain interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction of mid-infrared femtosecond pulses.

Mid-infrared ultrashort pulses of 9.2-microm center wavelength are characterized in both amplitude and phase. This is achieved by use of a variant of spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction in which spectral interferometry has been replaced with time-domain interferometry, a technique that is well suited for infrared pulses.