The authors of “An inexpensive, high-precision, modular spherical treadmill setup optimized for Drosophila experiments” make available here a full design package to replicate the treadmill of the publication.
Built to study the behavior of body- and head-fixed insects walking on an air-supported ball, the technology offered is a more compact, simpler setup than prior devices. It achieves unprecedented access to measuring fly behavior at low cost.
The Technology
LED-based systems offer a high level of control over the presentation of stimuli to model organisms. The authors of “A Modular Display System for Insect Behavioral Neuroscience” offer full documentation to recreate the described system and its derivatives at the repository presented here.
The Science
Head-fixed behavioral experiments in non-human primates, and more recently, rodents have been the gold standard in exploring the dynamics of the mammalian brain. The combination of precise stimulus control, monitoring of motor output, and neurophysiology over large numbers of trials is the foundation on which many conceptually rich and quantitative studies of the neural basis of sensation, cognition, and movement have been built. However, head-fixation and behavioral shaping requires the presence of an expert trainer. This process is time-consuming and difficult to document.
The Dual Lick Port Detector board provided here is used to detect a rodent drinking from one of the multiple outlets in a behavior experiment.
Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) is a powerful tool for volumetric imaging of cleared specimens. The Zeiss Lightsheet microscope Z.1 offers a commercial solution for SPIM imaging. The Z.1 presents sample mounting challenges, though. For example, users must position samples vertically and stabilize them for hours-long imaging sessions. Therefore, we offer custom sample holder designs to mount cleared and expansion microscopy (ExM) samples on the Z.1 system.
The correct positioning of optical elements like lenses, mirrors, and AOTFs in optical systems can often be tedious. However, precise and reproducible alignment tools can simplify the positioning of optical elements tremendously.
Extracellular recordings require accurate and ergonomic manipulation of the recording electrodes. The Svoboda Lab and Janelia Experimental Technology group have developed a flexible manipulator system specifically for recordings with multiple Neuropixels probes.
These cage dividers were developed at HHMI Janelia Research Campus for rodent management. Researchers can use the designs for free to replicate the dividers via the link at the right. Janelia is unable to provide the hardware itself.
Parts for the Rodent Cage Dividers were manufactured at Electric Metal Fab. The necessary o-rings can be obtained from McMaster-Carr:P/N:
