Lu Li, Popeney Briana, Dickman J David, Angelaki Dora E
Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine;
Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine.
J Vis Exp. 2018 May 9(135):57388. doi: 10.3791/57388.
Monitoring the activity patterns of a large population of neurons over many days in awake animals is a valuable technique in the field of systems neuroscience. One key component of this technique consists of the precise placement of multiple electrodes into desired brain regions and the maintenance of their stability. Here, we describe a protocol for the construction of a 3D-printable hyperdrive, which includes eighteen independently adjustable tetrodes, and is specifically designed for in vivo extracellular neural recording in freely behaving rats. The tetrodes attached to the microdrives can either be individually advanced into multiple brain regions along the track, or can be used to place an array of electrodes into a smaller area. The multiple tetrodes allow for simultaneous examination of action potentials from dozens of individual neurons, as well as local field potentials from populations of neurons in the brain during active behavior. In addition, the design provides for simpler 3D drafting software that can easily be modified for differing experimental needs.
在清醒动物中对大量神经元的活动模式进行多天监测是系统神经科学领域一项很有价值的技术。该技术的一个关键组成部分是将多个电极精确放置到所需的脑区并保持其稳定性。在此，我们描述一种用于构建3D可打印超微推进器的方案，该超微推进器包括18个独立可调的四极管，专为自由活动大鼠的体内细胞外神经记录而设计。连接到微推进器的四极管既可以沿着轨道单独推进到多个脑区，也可以用于将电极阵列放置到较小区域。多个四极管能够同时检测来自数十个单个神经元的动作电位，以及在动物活动行为期间大脑中神经元群体的局部场电位。此外，该设计采用了更简单的3D绘图软件，可轻松根据不同的实验需求进行修改。
