Miniature microscopes for ultra-high frame rate imaging in freely moving animals

Precise electrical signalling at a millisecond time scale is critical for healthy functioning of the brain and organs such as the heart. Future advances in understanding functions and disorders of the brain, and electrical activity in other organs, will require new tools to resolve fast electrical signals in identified cells in freely moving animal models. Recently developed fluorescent indicators enable electrical signals to be observed with microscopes. However, because current microscopes able to do this are bulky they can only be used with animals that are restrained, which severely limits their usefulness. To address this, we propose to develop miniature microscopes that by incorporating novel imaging sensors will be capable of extremely high frame rate imaging of the electrical activity of populations of neurons, or other cells, in freely moving animals. By facilitating widespread adoption of these systems we expect to transform investigation of electrical signaling during complex behaviours.