Non-invasive primate head restraint using thermoplastic masks.
Non-invasive primate head restraint using thermoplastic masks.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.06.013
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发表时间：
2015-09-30
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Platt ML
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Drucker CB;Carlson ML;Toda K;DeWind NK;Platt ML
许多神经科学研究的成功依赖于对清醒的、行为正常的动物进行足够的头部固定。通常，这是通过外科手术在颅骨上固定头枕假体来实现的。在这里，我们报告使用热塑性口罩来非侵入性地限制猴子的头部。网状热塑性塑料薄片加热后变得柔韧，然后可以塑造成单个猴子的头部。冷却后，这种定制口罩可以无限期地保持这种形状，以供日常使用。我们成功地训练恒河猴（Macaca mulatta）在戴着热塑性口罩的情况下执行认知任务。使用这些口罩，我们实现了足够高分辨率眼球追踪和颅内电生理的头部稳定性。与传统的头柱相比，我们发现热塑性口罩在红外眼动追踪和单神经元记录方面至少表现良好，允许更清晰的磁共振图像采集，可以更自由地放置经颅磁刺激线圈，并且降低了实验室的财务和时间成本。我们得出结论，热塑性口罩是一种可行的非侵入性灵长类动物头部约束形式，可用于广泛的神经科学实验。
The success of many neuroscientific studies depends upon adequate head fixation of awake, behaving animals. Typically, this is achieved by surgically affixing a head-restraint prosthesis to the skull. Here we report the use of thermoplastic masks to non-invasively restrain monkeys’ heads. Mesh thermoplastic sheets become pliable when heated and can then be molded to an individual monkey’s head. After cooling, the custom mask retains this shape indefinitely for day-to-day use. We successfully trained rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) to perform cognitive tasks while wearing thermoplastic masks. Using these masks, we achieved a level of head stability sufficient for high-resolution eye-tracking and intracranial electrophysiology. Compared with traditional head-posts, we find that thermoplastic masks perform at least as well during infrared eye-tracking and single-neuron recordings, allow for clearer magnetic resonance image acquisition, enable freer placement of a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil, and impose lower financial and time costs on the lab. We conclude that thermoplastic masks are a viable non-invasive form of primate head restraint that enable a wide range of neuroscientific experiments.