Opto2P-FCM: A MEMS based miniature two-photon microscope with two-photon patterned optogenetic stimulation.

Multiphoton microscopy combined with optogenetic photostimulation is a powerful technique in neuroscience enabling precise control of cellular activity to determine the neural basis of behavior in a live animal. Two-photon patterned photostimulation has taken this further by allowing interrogation at the individual neuron level. However, it remains a challenge to implement imaging of neural activity with spatially patterned two-photon photostimulation in a freely moving animal.

Miniscope Recording Calcium Signals at Hippocampus of Mice Navigating an Odor Plume.

Unlabelled: Mice navigate an odor plume with a complex spatiotemporal structure in the dark to find the source of odorants. This article describes a protocol to monitor behavior and record Ca transients in dorsal CA1 stratum pyramidale neurons in hippocampus (dCA1) in mice navigating an odor plume in a 50 cm x 50 cm x 25 cm odor arena. An epifluorescence miniscope focused through a GRIN lens imaged Ca transients in dCA1 neurons expressing the calcium sensor GCaMP6f in Thy1-GCaMP6f mice.

Sequential activity of CA1 hippocampal cells constitutes a temporal memory map for associative learning in mice.

Sequential neural dynamics encoded by time cells play a crucial role in hippocampal function. However, the role of hippocampal sequential neural dynamics in associative learning is an open question. We used two-photon Ca imaging of dorsal CA1 (dCA1) neurons in the stratum pyramidale (SP) in head-fixed mice performing a go-no go associative learning task to investigate how odor valence is temporally encoded in this area of the brain.

Olfactory cortex: Temporal segregation of inputs from the two nostrils.

Piriform cortex processes odor information coming from two nostrils to give rise to unified perception of odorant identity and intensity. A new study reveals that human piriform cortex harbours distinct representations of odor input from ipsilateral and contralateral nostrils through temporal segregation.