Whole-brain calcium imaging with cellular resolution in freely behaving Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: The ability to acquire large-scale recordings of neuronal activity in awake and unrestrained animals is needed to provide new insights into how populations of neurons generate animal behavior. We present an instrument capable of recording intracellular calcium transients from the majority of neurons in the head of a freely behaving Caenorhabditis elegans with cellular resolution while simultaneously recording the animal's position, posture, and locomotion. This instrument provides whole-brain imaging with cellular resolution in an unrestrained and behaving animal. We use spinning-disk confocal microscopy to capture 3D volumetric fluorescent images of neurons expressing the calcium indicator GCaMP6s at 6 head-volumes/s. A suite of three cameras monitor neuronal fluorescence and the animal's

SUBMITTER: Nguyen JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4776509 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature