Posts

A search for magnetosensitive neurons Many species across the animal kingdom are said to use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and navigation. However, the mechanisms by which information about magnetic fields enters the nervous system remain unknown.

SqueakR is an open-source R package, available on CRAN, which streamlines bioacoustics research through automated data processing and visualizations for rodent vocalizations exported from DeepSqueak. These functions are harnessed through the ‘SqueakR’ Shiny Dashboard, available as a function within the package, which can be used to visualize experimental results and analyses, as well as conduct statistical significance test between call features across groups.

While accurate behavioral state classification is critical for many research applications, it is often done manually, which can be both tedious and inaccurate. Here we present a novel artificial neural network that uses electrophysiological features to automatically classify behavioral state in rats with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.

ArControl is a Arduino based digital signals control system. A special application for ArControl is to establish a animal behavioral platform (as Skinner box), which control devices to deliver stimulation, monitor behavioral response and record data.

Climbing fiber inputs to Purkinje cells provide instructive signals critical for cerebellum-dependent associative learning. Studying these signals in head-fixed mice facilitates the use of imaging, electrophysiological, and optogenetic methods. Here, a low cost behavioral platform (~$1000) was developed that allows tracking of associative learning in head-fixed mice that locomote freely on a running wheel.

BrainJ enables high-throughput analysis of serial tissue sections imaged using confocal or widefield techniques. Developed in Fiji, our approach leverages freely available tools for machine learning pixel classification for cell detection and mesoscale mapping of axons and dendrites.

FastSurfer is a fast and extensively validated deep-learning pipeline for the fully automated processing of structural human brain MRIs. As such, it provides FreeSurfer conform outputs, enables efficient big-data analysis for large cohort studies, and time-critical clinical applications such as structure localization during image acquisition or rapid extraction of quantitative measures for precision medicine.

MINI2P is an open-source miniature 2-photon microscope brain explorer for fast high-resolution calcium imaging in freely-moving mice. In brief Development of a miniature 2-photon miniscope for large-scale calcium imaging in freely moving mice allows stable simultaneous recording of more than a thousand cells across multiple planes of densely active cortical regions in a wide spectrum of behavioral tasks without impediment of the animal’s behavior.

This simple optogenetics stimulation driver is based on the Arduino Uno, and produces millisecond-accurate timing to control a single laser or LED. The dials allow easy control of pulse on-time and frequency, with a simple switch to turn the flashing on or off.

Automated microscope slide stainers are typically very expensive, and unless the lab performs heavy histological work it is hard to justify buying a €2000-€10000 machine. As a result, histology and pathology labs around the world lose thousands of working hours for following a procedure that could be easily automated.