Time: 16:30-17:30 on Mon.,Sep.25, 2023

Venue：E109, Biomedicine Hall

Speaker: Dr.Da-Ting Lin

Host: Dr.Yichang Jia

Title: Combining miniscope imaging with deep behavior mapping to study neural coding of behavior in freely behaving rodents

Abstract：

To better understand neural coding of behavior, more detailed insights into behavior organization is critical. We developed deep behavior mapping (DBM) to identify behavioral microstates from behavioral video recordings. We combined DBM with longitudinal miniscope calcium imaging to quantify behavioral tuning in prefrontal neurons as mice learned an operant task. We found that a subset of prefrontal neurons was strongly tuned to highly specific behavioral microstates. Overlapping neural ensembles were tiled across consecutive microstates in the response-reinforcer sequence, forming a continuous map. As mice learned the operant task, prefrontal neurons that were not previously tuned to any behavior came to represent newly learned behaviors, and weakly tuned neurons were preferentially recruited into new ensembles. Our results underscore the unique advantage of combining in vivo deep brain calcium imaging in freely behaving rodents with advanced behavior mapping to identify neural coding mechanisms of animal behavior. Similar approaches can be applied to study neural circuit changes and behavioral alterations in psychiatric disorders.