A Behavioral System for Imaging Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Freely Behaving Mice
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is important in guiding learned, reward-seeking behavior through the integration of relevant information from multiple brain regions. Multiple studies have used the head-fixed Go/No-Go task to assess mPFC function in decision-making because rodents learn the task quickly and it is compatible with several imaging strategies. However, this paradigm has two inherent flaws: 1) head-fixation does not emulate natural behavior, and 2) the motivational state of the animals is ambiguous because they are forced to perform task trials at an experimenter-defined schedule. To assess the function of mPFC in decision making in a more naturalistic context, I have designed and successfully built a behavioral system that robustly reads out a two-alternative-forced choice (2AFC) behavior in freely moving mice. First, this behavioral system allows for freely moving mice to perform learned choice behavior in a custom-designed behavioral box that is dimensioned to mimic its home cage. Second, mice are able to self-initiate task trials without external constraints placed upon them, which is made possible by motion sensing hardware. This behavioral system is also built to be flexible, allowing for easy control of task parameters and integration of external devices such as imaging cameras. The construction of this system combines sensory systems, MATLAB software, and the Arduino platform. By using this behavioral set up, I have effectively trained mice in the 2AFC task, and have recently begun to perform in vivo Ca2+ imaging using the Inscopix mini-endoscopic microscopy system. By correlating the real-time activity patterns of genetically/anatomically-defined mPFC neurons with freely moving choice behavior, I have found cell type specific activity that correlates with specific outcomes of 2AFC.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 2, 2017 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Nguyen, Nghia |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Luo, Liqun |
| Advisor | Chaudhuri, Ovijit |
Subjects
| Subject | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Subject | Two-Alternative-Forced Choice |
| Subject | Imaging |
| Subject | Prefrontal Cortex |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Nguyen, Nghia. (2017). A Behavioral System for Imaging Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Freely Behaving Mice. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/sm895yc0354
Collection
Undergraduate Theses, School of Engineering
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- Contact
- nghia2@stanford.edu
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