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bioRxiv
BIORXIV
bioRxiv
2692-8205
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

10.1101/2024.08.16.608328
preprint
1
Article
MiniXL: An open-source, large field-of-view epifluorescence miniature microscope for mice capable of single-cell resolution and multi-brain region imaging
Zhao Pingping
Guo Changliang
Xie Mian
Chen Liangyi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1270-7321

Golshani Peyman
Aharoni Daniel http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4931-8514

19 8 2024
2024.08.16.608328https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
http://biorxiv.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/2024.08.16.608328
nihpp-2024.08.16.608328.pdf
Abstract

Capturing the intricate dynamics of neural activity in freely behaving animals is essential for understanding the neural mechanisms underpinning specific behaviors. Miniaturized microscopy enables investigators to track population activity at cellular level, but the field of view (FOV) of these microscopes have been limited and does not allow multiple-brain region imaging. To fill this technological gap, we have developed the eXtra Large field-of-view Miniscope (MiniXL), a 3.5g lightweight miniaturized microscope with an FOV measuring 3.5 mm in diameter and an electrically adjustable working distance of 1.9 mm ± 200 μm. We demonstrated the capability of MiniXL recording the activity of large neuronal population in both subcortical area (hippocampal dorsal CA1) and deep brain regions (medial prefrontal cortex, mPFC and nucleus accumbens, NAc). The large FOV allows simultaneous imaging of multiple brain regions such as bilateral mPFCs or mPFC and NAc during complex social behavior and tracking cells across multiple sessions. As with all microscopes in the UCLA Miniscope ecosystem, the MiniXL is fully open-source and will be shared with the neuroscience community to lower the barriers for adoption of this technology.
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pmc
