Topic: awake mice

Experimental work across a variety of species has demonstrated that spontaneously generated behaviors are robustly correlated to variation in neural activity within the cerebral cortex. Indeed, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data suggest that functional connectivity in cortical networks varies across distinct behavioral states, providing for the dynamic reorganization of patterned activity. However, these studies generally lack the temporal resolution to establish links between cortical signals and the continuously varying fluctuations in spontaneous behavior typically observed i

The sequential analysis of information in a coarse-to-fine (CtF) manner is a fundamental processing strategy of the visual system. Previous studies have shown that neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of anesthetized animals can process spatial information in a CtF fashion, shifting their spatial frequency (SF) preference from low (coarse) to high (fine) throughout their response to static grating stimuli. However, many central questions regarding CtF processing, such as whether it occurs in awake behaving mice and potential computational advantages it may provide, remain unexplored. Here

Experimental work across a variety of species has demonstrated that spontaneously generated behaviors are robustly correlated to variation in neural activity within the cerebral cortex. Indeed, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data suggest that functional connectivity in cortical networks varies across distinct behavioral states, providing for the dynamic reorganization of patterned activity. However, these studies generally lack the temporal resolution to establish links between cortical signals and the continuously varying fluctuations in spontaneous behavior typically observed i

Aims: Investigating cerebral oxygen saturation dynamics in awake animal models presents significant technical challenges. We introduce a novel approach utilizing high-resolution ultrasound photoacoustic (PA) imaging to monitor deep cerebrovascular oxygen saturation dynamics in awake mice.Methods: Swiss male and female mice (n=5-6) were immobilized using the Mobile HomeCage (Neurotar, Finland) floating platform. We used high-resolution ultrasound associated with PA imaging (VevoLAZR-X, Visualsonics) to track neurovascular oxygenation trajectories in awake mice in response to 2% isoflurane or do

Our understanding of how sensorimotor information is integrated across dendritic trees is limited by our ability to image these distributed 3D structures in awake animals. We overcome the existing limitations of rapidly measuring 3D dendritic activity and avoiding signal distortion by brain motion artefacts by utilizing our novel nonlinear 3D acousto-optic lens two-photon microscope with real-time 3D brain motion correction and innovative Ca2+ imaging analysis pipelines. This enable the study of sensorimotor information representation in dendritic activity patterns of awake mice during natural

The surround of the receptive field (RF) has been traditionally considered to modulate neural responses within the RF. However, recent studies have challenged this conventional understanding, showing elevated firing rates in primary visual cortex (V1) in response to stimuli presented in the surround, even in the absence of direct visual input within the classical RF. While the responses in absence of visual input have been interpreted as a prediction of the occluded content, we alternatively propose that the increased responses to the surround stimulation are the representation of a uniform ac

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a novel noninvasive modality for neuromodulation in the central nervous system with a high spatial resolution and the ability to target deep brain structures. Rodent studies have shown motor responses following FUS but mostly failed to demonstrate consistent and target-specific effects. Here, we used a high-frequency (4 MHz) transducer with a small focal area to investigate the target-specificity of FUS neuromodulation. Mice were implanted with a large cranial window consisting of an ultrasound-transparent Polymethylpentene membrane. For the experiment, awake mice w

In adult mouse visual cortex, neuronal responses to visual stimuli undergo gradual and continuous changes over time. This phenomenon called “representational drift” has also been observed in other sensory and higher cortical areas and has profound implications for coding strategies in the brain.It is unknown which tuning feature changes of individual neurons underlie representational drift in the primary visual cortex (V1), and what regulates their drift. Using repeated 2-photon calcium imaging in awake mice, we show a slow, time-dependent drift of the preferred orientation of V1 neurons over