We used two different types of objectives, with complementary advantages and disadvantages. Fluid-immersion

objectives allowed higher numerical apertures but required delivery and removal of fluid at the beginning and end of each head-fixation period. Imaging could not be carried out during the process of fluid delivery or removal (∼500 ms each). In contrast, air objectives have lower numerical apertures but allowed imaging to continue until the end of head restraint on each trial. Both types of objectives allow high-quality cellular resolution SAHA HDAC in vitro functional imaging. For experiments with fluid-immersion objectives, we developed an automated immersion fluid delivery and removal system (Figure 4A). This system consisted of two thin tubes, one for delivery, connected Selleck Fulvestrant to an immersion fluid reservoir,

and one for suction, connected to a vacuum pump. A custom collar mounted on the objective barrel positioned the openings of the tubes at the gap between the imaging region and the face of the objective. To discourage the use of this fluid as a water-reward source, we used 5–10 mM quinine instead of distilled water. Timing of the addition and removal of immersion fluid with each insertion was controlled by solenoid valves, which received commands from behavioral software (Figure 5A). Addition of the immersion fluid began at the initiation of head restraint and lasted 400 ms. Fluid removal began 400 ms before the end of head fixation, concomitant with the end of image acquisition for that trial. An aperture (0.9 cm by 1.5 cm) in the

center of the headplate allowed access to the skull and could accommodate the implantation of an optical window that allowed optical access to the brain. The optical window was designed based on an implantable optical device previously used to perform in vivo cellular resolution imaging in mice with minimal brain motion over long periods of time (Figure 4B; Dombeck et al., 2010). It consisted of a 150-μm-thick, 3.5-mm-diameter circular cover glass that was bonded to a short 9G stainless steel ring using optical adhesive. The height of the ring was designed to match the thickness of the rat skull over the imaging region. In experiments targeting the medial all agranular cortex (AGm), the height of the ring was 400 μm, whereas in experiments targeting the visual cortex (V1), the height was 800 μm. To increase mechanical stability during imaging, we designed the optical window to depress the cortical surface by ∼150 μm below the bottom of the skull when fully implanted (Dombeck et al., 2007). Given the working distance of the imaging objectives (3.3 mm for water, 4.0 mm for air) relative to the combined thickness of the headplate (1.65 mm) and rat skull (0.4–0.8 mm), it became necessary in some cases to move the objective out of the way, prior to the insertion of the headplate on each trial, to prevent the headplate from hitting, and potentially damaging, the objective.