JoVE Logo

Sign In

A subscription to JoVE is required to view this content. Sign in or start your free trial.

Abstract

Neuroscience

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

Published: September 20th, 2024

DOI:

10.3791/67039

1Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2Neurotechnology Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 3Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 4Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, 5Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Abstract

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 Ca2+ transients in dorsal CA1 stratum pyramidale neurons in the 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 gradient-index (GRIN) lens imaged Ca2+ transients in dCA1 neurons expressing the calcium sensor GCaMP6f in Thy1-GCaMP6f mice. The paper describes the behavioral protocol to train the mice to perform this odor plume navigation task in an automated odor arena. The methods include a step-by-step procedure for the surgery for GRIN lens implantation and baseplate placement for imaging GCaMP6f in CA1. The article provides information on real-time tracking of the mouse position to automate the start of the trials and delivery of a water reward. In addition, the protocol includes information on using an interface board to synchronize metadata describing the automation of the odor navigation task and frame times for the miniscope and a digital camera tracking mouse position. Moreover, the methods delineate the pipeline used to process GCaMP6f fluorescence movies by motion correction using the NorMCorre algorithm followed by identification of regions of interest with EXTRACT. Finally, the paper describes an artificial neural network approach to decode spatial paths from CA1 neural ensemble activity to predict mouse navigation of the odor plume.

Explore More Videos

Miniscope Recording

This article has been published

Video Coming Soon

JoVE Logo

Privacy

Terms of Use

Policies

Research

Education

ABOUT JoVE

Copyright © 2024 MyJoVE Corporation. All rights reserved