@article {67311, title = {The functional organization of excitatory synaptic input to place cells.}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {12}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 Jun 11}, pages = {3558}, abstract = {

Hippocampal place cells contribute to mammalian spatial navigation and memory formation. Numerous models have been proposed to explain the location-specific firing of this cognitive representation, but the pattern of excitatory synaptic input leading to place firing is unknown, leaving no synaptic-scale explanation of place coding. Here we used resonant scanning two-photon microscopy to establish the pattern of synaptic glutamate input received by CA1 place cells in behaving mice. During traversals of the somatic place field, we found increased excitatory dendritic input, mainly arising from inputs with spatial tuning overlapping the somatic field, and functional clustering of this input along the dendrites over ~10 {\textmu}m. These results implicate increases in total excitatory input and co-activation of anatomically clustered synaptic input in place firing. Since they largely inherit their fields from upstream synaptic partners with similar fields, many CA1 place cells appear to be part of multi-brain-region cell assemblies forming representations of specific locations.

}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-021-23829-y}, author = {Adoff, Michael D and Climer, Jason R and Davoudi, Heydar and Marvin, Jonathan S and Looger, Loren L and Dombeck, Daniel A} } @article {4840, title = {Real neuroscience in virtual worlds.}, journal = {Current Opinion in Neurobiology}, volume = {22}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Feb}, pages = {3-10}, abstract = {

Virtual reality (VR) holds great promise as a tool to study the neural circuitry underlying animal behaviors. Here, we discuss the advantages of VR and the experimental paradigms and technologies that enable closed loop behavioral experiments. We review recent results from VR research in genetic model organisms where the potential combination of rich behaviors, genetic tools and cutting edge neural recording techniques are leading to breakthroughs in our understanding of the neural basis of behavior. We also discuss several key issues to consider when performing VR experiments and provide an outlook for the future of this exciting experimental toolkit.

}, issn = {1873-6882}, doi = {10.1016/j.conb.2011.10.015}, author = {Dombeck, Daniel A and Reiser, Michael B} } @article {3931, title = {Functional imaging of hippocampal place cells at cellular resolution during virtual navigation.}, journal = {Nature Neuroscience}, volume = {13}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Nov}, pages = {1433-40}, abstract = {

Spatial navigation is often used as a behavioral task in studies of the neuronal circuits that underlie cognition, learning and memory in rodents. The combination of in vivo microscopy with genetically encoded indicators has provided an important new tool for studying neuronal circuits, but has been technically difficult to apply during navigation. Here we describe methods for imaging the activity of neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus with subcellular resolution in behaving mice. Neurons that expressed the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP3 were imaged through a chronic hippocampal window. Head-restrained mice performed spatial behaviors in a setup combining a virtual reality system and a custom-built two-photon microscope. We optically identified populations of place cells and determined the correlation between the location of their place fields in the virtual environment and their anatomical location in the local circuit. The combination of virtual reality and high-resolution functional imaging should allow a new generation of studies to investigate neuronal circuit dynamics during behavior.

}, keywords = {Action Potentials, Animals, Calcium, Cerebral Cortex, Computer-Assisted, Dendrites, Genetic, Hippocampus, Image Processing, Inbred C57BL, Male, Membrane Potentials, Mice, Neurons, Nonlinear Dynamics, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Space Perception, Spatial Behavior, Synapsins, Transduction, User-Computer Interface}, issn = {1546-1726}, doi = {10.1038/nn.2648}, author = {Dombeck, Daniel A and Harvey, Christopher D and Tian, Lin and Looger, Loren L and Tank, David W} }