Abstract
High-yield electrophysiological extracellular recording in freely moving rodents provides a unique window into the temporal dynamics of neural circuits. Recording from unrestrained animals is critical to investigate brain activity during natural behaviors. The use and implantation of high-channel-count silicon probes represent the largest cost and experimental complexity associated with such recordings making a recoverable and reusable system desirable. To address this, we have designed and tested a novel 3D printed head-gear system for freely moving mice and rats. The system consists of a recoverable microdrive printed in stainless steel and a plastic head cap system, allowing researchers to reuse the silicon probes with ease, decreasing the effective cost, and the experimental effort and complexity. The cap designs are modular and provide structural protection and electrical shielding to the implanted hardware and electronics. We provide detailed procedural instructions allowing researchers to adapt and flexibly modify the head-gear system.
Highlights
We report the design and testing of an integrated 3D printed headgear system that is adaptable for multiple recording devices for both mice and rats
Repeated use of plastic threads results in rapid deterioration, which can be prevented by metal-to-metal connection (Figure 1-figure supplement 1)
We have taken advantage of this and constructed a 3D printed microdrive from stainless steel, which offers superior strength and form factor compared to plastic prints (Young's modulus of stainless steel: ~180 GPa vs plastic: ~2 GPa)
Summary
). We offer several video tutorials, which describe the construction of the microdrive, the cap systems, the probe implantation, and the probe recovery. The CAD system allows different laboratories to customize both the drive and headgear according to their specific goals and needs.
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