Investigating the neural mechanisms of social group interactions and other naturalistic behaviors in small animals remains limited by current technology. Tethered neural recording systems are incompatible with many of these behaviors, while existing wireless devices for small animals are constrained by weight, bandwidth, recording duration and the lack of closed-loop modulation capabilities. Here we overcome these limitations by developing a Wireless, Interactive, Lightweight Datalogger (WILD) with integrated flexible neural probes, optogenetics, an inertial measurement unit, an ultrasonic microphone and a head-mounted camera.
This platform enables simultaneous, long-term recording of neural activity, locomotor variables, vocalizations and eye movements from groups of freely moving mice in both laboratory and outdoor settings. Model-based real-time signal processing detects specific neural events and behavioral motifs to trigger closed-loop neural interventions. By combining multimodal recordings with advanced onboard signal-processing capabilities in a compact device, WILD enables the investigation of neural mechanisms underlying a broad range of natural behaviors in small animals.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription Receive 12 print issues and online access Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Data are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18879184 (ref. 67). Owing to their large size, the original binary data files that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request. Source data are provided with this paper.
Instructions, design files, source code and compiled binaries are available via GitHub at https://github.com/ayalab1/Neurologger. Scripts used for data analysis are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18879184 (ref. 67). The device manual and operation instructions are available via GitHub at https://ayalab1.github.io/Neurologger/.
This code is available open-source under gpl-3.0 license. Neuropixels 2.0: a miniaturized high-density probe for stable, long-term brain recordings. Science 372, eabf4588 (2021).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Zong, W. et al. Large-scale two-photon calcium imaging in freely moving mice. Cell 185, 1240–1256.e30 (2022).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
