Calcium imaging and analysis of the mouse hippocampus or neocortex using miniature microendoscopes

TL;DR

This paper provides detailed protocols for implanting and analyzing calcium imaging in the mouse hippocampus and neocortex using miniature microendoscopes, including lens preparation, re-use, and software considerations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel in-house developed protocol for the GRIN-relay-Prism lens system for hippocampal and neocortical imaging.

Findings

Protocols for lens implantation and re-use are detailed.

Comparison of analysis software and computational requirements.

Description of the new GRIN-relay-Prism lens system protocol.

Abstract

Calcium imaging using miniscopes are becoming increasingly popular in the neuroscience community with a multitude of microendoscope versions, lens systems and packages for analysis available as open source. Here we describe in detail how to implant lenses and baseplates for the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) miniscope V3 and V4 using a Gradient Index (GRIN) lens for the hippocampus or a combination of prism and GRIN lens for recording in the neocortex. Our protocols contain adaptations from several published protocols however the GRIN-relay-Prism lens system protocol is developed in-house and not previously described. This chapter also suggests how lenses may be re-used and how to test the quality of a reused lens. Lastly, we comment on the difference between analysis software and the computational needs for different packages.