Yang Yoonsun, Kim Gunsoo
Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Suwon, Korea.
Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea.
Bio Protoc. 2020 Dec 5;10(23):e3840. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3840.
The inferior colliculus (IC) is a critical midbrain integration center for auditory and non-auditory information. Although much is known about the response properties of the IC neurons to auditory stimuli, how the IC neural circuits function during movement such as locomotion remains poorly understood. Mice offer a valuable model in this respect, but previous studies of the mouse IC were performed in anesthetized or restrained preparations, making it difficult to study the IC function during behavior. Here we describe a neural recording protocol for the mouse IC in which mice are head-fixed, but can run on a passive treadmill. Mice first receive a headpost surgery, and become habituated to head-fixing while being on a treadmill. Following a few days of habituation, neural recordings of the IC neuron activity are performed. The neural activity can be compared across different behavioral conditions, such as standing still versus running on a treadmill. We describe how to overcome the challenges of headpost surgery for awake IC recording, presented by the location and overlying bones. This protocol allows investigations of the IC function in behaving mice, while allowing precise stimulus control and the use of recording methods similar to those for anesthetized preparations.
下丘（IC）是中脑用于整合听觉和非听觉信息的关键中枢。尽管人们对IC神经元对听觉刺激的反应特性已经有了很多了解，但对于IC神经回路在诸如运动等活动过程中的功能仍知之甚少。在这方面，小鼠提供了一个有价值的模型，但以往对小鼠IC的研究是在麻醉或束缚状态下进行的，这使得研究IC在行为过程中的功能变得困难。在此，我们描述了一种用于小鼠IC的神经记录方法，即小鼠头部固定，但可以在被动跑步机上奔跑。小鼠首先接受头柱手术，并在跑步机上适应头部固定。经过几天的适应后，对IC神经元活动进行神经记录。可以在不同行为条件下比较神经活动，例如静止站立与在跑步机上奔跑。我们描述了如何克服由于头柱手术位置和覆盖骨骼所带来的清醒状态下IC记录的挑战。该方法允许在行为小鼠中研究IC功能，同时允许精确的刺激控制，并使用与麻醉状态下准备工作类似的记录方法。
