美国明尼苏达大学Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah研究组开发出微型头戴式显微镜，可在自由活动小鼠中进行全皮质中等尺度成像。2021年4月5日，《自然—方法学》杂志在线发表了这项成果。

为了对行为自由的小鼠进行全皮层成像，研究人员开发了“ mini-mScope”，这是一种宽视野、微型化、头戴式荧光显微镜，可与透明的聚合物头骨兼容。mini-mScope的视场为8×10×mm²，重量小于4μg，可以对大多数小鼠背皮质进行成像，分辨率范围为39至56μm。

研究人员使用mini-mScope记录了在感觉诱发性刺激、旷场（open field）行为、社交互动以及从清醒到睡眠的过渡过程中整个背皮质的中等尺度钙活动。

据了解，基因编码钙指示剂和手术方案（诸如变薄的头骨或折射率匹配的头骨之类）的出现，使得人们能够在头部固定的小鼠中进行中等尺度的皮层活动成像。但是，不受约束行为中的神经活动与头固定动物中的神经活动大不相同。

附：英文原文

Title: Miniaturized head-mounted microscope for whole-cortex mesoscale imaging in freely behaving mice

Author: Mathew L. Rynes, Daniel A. Surinach, Samantha Linn, Michael Laroque, Vijay Rajendran, Judith Dominguez, Orestes Hadjistamoulou, Zahra S. Navabi, Leila Ghanbari, Gregory W. Johnson, Mojtaba Nazari, Majid H. Mohajerani, Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah

Issue&Volume: 2021-04-05

Abstract: The advent of genetically encoded calcium indicators, along with surgical preparations such as thinned skulls or refractive-index-matched skulls, has enabled mesoscale cortical activity imaging in head-fixed mice. However, neural activity during unrestrained behavior substantially differs from neural activity in head-fixed animals. For whole-cortex imaging in freely behaving mice, we present the ‘mini-mScope’, a widefield, miniaturized, head-mounted fluorescence microscope that is compatible with transparent polymer skull preparations. With a field of view of 8×10mm2 and weighing less than 4g, the mini-mScope can image most of the mouse dorsal cortex with resolutions ranging from 39 to 56μm. We used the mini-mScope to record mesoscale calcium activity across the dorsal cortex during sensory-evoked stimuli, open field behaviors, social interactions and transitions from wakefulness to sleep.

DOI: 10.1038/s41592-021-01104-8

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-021-01104-8