An approach for long-term, multi-probe Neuropixels recordings in unrestrained rats
- Princeton University, United States
Abstract
The use of Neuropixels probes for chronic neural recordings is in its infancy and initial studies leave questions about long-term stability and probe reusability unaddressed. Here we demonstrate a new approach for chronic Neuropixels recordings over a period of months in freely moving rats. Our approach allows multiple probes per rat and multiple cycles of probe reuse. We found that hundreds of units could be recorded for multiple months, but that yields depended systematically on anatomical position. Explanted probes displayed a small increase in noise compared to unimplanted probes, but this was insufficient to impair future single-unit recordings. We conclude that cost-effective, multi-region, and multi-probe Neuropixels recordings can be carried out with high yields over multiple months in rats or other similarly sized animals. Our methods and observations may facilitate the standardization of chronic recording from Neuropixels probes in freely moving animals.
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj3zw. All code used in preparation of this article can be found at https://github.com/Brody-Lab/chronic_neuropixels.
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An approach for long-term, multi-probe Neuropixels recordings in unrestrained ratsDryad, 10.5061/dryad.m63xsj3zw.
Article and author information
Author details
Adrian Gopnik Bondy
Funding
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH108358)
- Thomas Zhihao Luo
- Adrian Gopnik Bondy
- Diksha Gupta
- Verity Alexander Elliott
- Charles D Kopec
- Carlos D Brody
National Institute of Mental Health (F32MH115416)
- Thomas Zhihao Luo
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Thomas Zhihao Luo
- Adrian Gopnik Bondy
- Diksha Gupta
- Verity Alexander Elliott
- Charles D Kopec
- Carlos D Brody
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Lisa Giocomo, Stanford School of Medicine, United States
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocols (#1853) of Princeton University. All surgery was performed under isofluorane anesthesia, and every effort was made to minimize suffering.
Version history
- Received: June 5, 2020
- Accepted: October 21, 2020
- Accepted Manuscript published: October 22, 2020 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: December 7, 2020 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2020, Luo et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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An approach for long-term, multi-probe Neuropixels recordings in unrestrained rats
eLife 9:e59716.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.59716
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