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A wireless multi-channel neural amplifier for freely moving animals

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 263–269 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Conventional neural recording systems restrict behavioral experiments to a flat indoor environment compatible with the cable that tethers the subject to recording instruments. To overcome these constraints, we developed a wireless multi-channel system for recording neural signals from rats. The device takes up to 64 voltage signals from implanted electrodes, samples each at 20 kHz, time-division multiplexes them into one signal and transmits that output by radio frequency to a receiver up to 60 m away. The system introduces <4 μV of electrode-referred noise, comparable to wired recording systems, and outperforms existing rodent telemetry systems in channel count, weight and transmission range. This allows effective recording of brain signals in freely behaving animals. We report measurements of neural population activity taken outdoors and in tunnels. Neural firing in the visual cortex was relatively sparse, correlated even across large distances and was strongly influenced by locomotor activity.

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Figure 1: System overview, showing all components (bottom left) and the complete system worn by a rat (bottom right).
Figure 2: Schematic circuits.
Figure 3: Signal path, showing schematically how electrode voltages are transformed by the wireless system.
Figure 4: Noise and range measurements.
Figure 5: Illustrative data: spike trains and response properties from the rat cortex.
Figure 6: Population measures and behavioral modulation of V1 activity indoors.
Figure 7: Behavioral modulation of activity in V1 outdoors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Leifer and E. Soucy for technical assistance and O. Mazor and A. Biewener for advice. Funding was provided by the McKnight Foundation (M.M., T.A.S.) the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (M.M.), the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (W.D., P.H.), the National Science Foundation (PHY-0750525, A.M.L.) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (A.S.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Tobi A Szuts

  2. Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA

    Vitaliy Fadeyev, Sergei Kachiguine, Alexander Sher, Matthew V Grivich & Alan M Litke

  3. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Margarida Agrochão, Naoshige Uchida & Markus Meister

  4. Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Portugal

    Margarida Agrochão

  5. Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland

    Pawel Hottowy & Wladyslaw Dabrowski

  6. Division of Biology, and Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

    Evgueniy V Lubenov & Athanassios G Siapas

  7. Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Naoshige Uchida & Markus Meister

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  1. Tobi A Szuts
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Contributions

This manuscript was written by T.A.S. and M.M., with comments from all authors. The Neuroplat chip was designed by P.H., W.D. and A.M.L. The back and head boards were designed by A.M.L., V.F., S.K., A.S. and M.V.G. The wireless link was designed by T.A.S. and M.M. Implantations and experiments were performed by A.G.S. and E.V.L. (hippocampus), N.U. (frontal eye field), and T.A.S. and M.A. (V1). Analysis was performed by N.U. (FEF) and T.A.S. and M.M. (V1, hippocampus). M.M. and A.M.L. supervised the project.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tobi A Szuts or Markus Meister.

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Szuts, T., Fadeyev, V., Kachiguine, S. et al. A wireless multi-channel neural amplifier for freely moving animals. Nat Neurosci 14, 263–269 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2730

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