Open-source, high performance miniature 2-photon microscopy systems for freely behaving animals

Blake A. Madruga, Conor C. Dorian, Long Yang, Megha Sehgal, Alcino J. Silva, Matthew Shtrahman, Daniel Aharoni and Peyman Golshani ()
Additional contact information
Blake A. Madruga: UCLA School of Medicine
Conor C. Dorian: UCLA School of Medicine
Long Yang: UCLA School of Medicine
Megha Sehgal: University of California
Alcino J. Silva: University of California
Matthew Shtrahman: University of California
Daniel Aharoni: UCLA School of Medicine
Peyman Golshani: UCLA School of Medicine

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Here we describe the UCLA 2P Miniscope, an open-source miniature 2-photon microscope capable of recording calcium dynamics from neurons in deep structures and from dendrites over a 445 µm × 380 µm field of view. The system utilizes two on-board silicon-based photon detectors for approximately 4-fold greater light collection compared to an optical fiber bundle-based approach. The microscope can electronically focus within a 150 µm range at a native working distance of 720 µm. To test the 2P Miniscope, we recorded calcium dynamics from place cells in hippocampus, resolved calcium transients from dendrites in retrosplenial cortex and we recorded dentate granule cell activity at a depth of over 620 µm, through an intact hippocampus during open field behavior. The miniature microscope itself and all supporting equipment are open-source and all files needed for building the scope can be accessed through the Golshani Lab GitHub repository.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62534-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62534-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62534-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().