Optical Instrumentation

项目摘要：核心5，光学仪器 工作记忆，即在脑海中暂时记住多个信息以进行操作的能力，是 几乎是所有认知能力的核心。这一多组分研究项目旨在全面 剖析这种能力在多个大脑区域的神经回路机制。我们的项目一直是 旨在充分利用在大脑倡议中开发的基于光学的新技术。它是 我们当务之急是继续创新和升级我们的仪器和方法，使其成为 场会向前移动。光学仪器核心将开发、实施和支持光学 我们项目中使用的显微镜和其他基于光学的仪器，以确保它们代表 最好的新技术。为此，我们将利用普林斯顿大学的技术和工程专业知识 贝佐斯神经电路动力学中心，并招募更多致力于建造和维护的员工 我们最先进的乐器。我们的项目依赖于双光子和三光子的最新技术 细胞分辨率的钙成像，基于激光的光遗传微扰系统与 同时成像，以及新形式的宽视场显微镜。这些工具中的一些是基于 我们PI实验室的最新创新。在其他情况下，我们将与其他 开发了创新新方法的机构。创建光学仪器核心将 解决创新和维护这些仪器所需的大量技术工作存在的问题 转向学生和博士后，因为它已经超出了现有工作人员的能力。这一部门 劳动力是一个问题，原因有四：(1)实验室人员往往没有足够的时间或专业知识来生产 最好的结果，(2)责任的分散导致人们相互重复努力，(3) 研究人员将时间花在技术工作上，而不是从事科学工作，而且(4)专业知识可能会丢失 随着学生和博士后继续前进。出于所有这些原因，我们建议将此功能标准化 提高质量控制和效率的项目。集中设计、施工、维护和 这些仪器的支持将提高我们的显微镜实验的效率和精确度，同时 解放实验室人员，让他们专注于设计实验和收集数据。

Project Summary: Core 5, Optical Instrumentation Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information in mind for manipulation, is central to virtually all cognitive abilities. This multi-component research project aims to comprehensively dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of this ability across multiple brain areas. Our projects have been designed to take full advantage of new optics-based technologies developed in the BRAIN Initiative. It is imperative that we continue to innovate and upgrade our instrumentation and methods as the cutting edge of the field moves forward. The Optical Instrumentation Core will develop, implement, and support the optical microscopes and other optics-based instrumentation used in our projects to ensure that they represent the best of the new technologies. To do so, we will leverage the technical and engineering expertise in Princeton’s Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics and recruit additional staff devoted to constructing and maintaining our state-of-the-art instruments. Our projects depend on the latest technology for two- and three-photon calcium imaging at cellular resolution, laser-based optogenetic perturbation systems combined with simultaneous imaging, and novel forms of widefield microscopy. Some of this instrumentation is based on recent innovations in the labs of our PIs. In other cases, we will collaborate with colleagues at other institutions who have developed innovative new methods. Creating an Optical Instrumentation Core will address the problem that much of the technical work required to innovate and maintain these instruments has shifted to students and postdocs, because it has exceeded the capacity of existing staff. This division of labor is a problem for four reasons: (1) lab personnel often do not have sufficient time or expertise to produce the best possible results, (2) the diffusion of responsibility leads people to duplicate one another’s efforts, (3) researchers spend their time on technical work at the expense of doing science, and (4) expertise can be lost as students and postdocs move on. For all these reasons, we propose to standardize this function across projects to improve quality control and efficiency. Centralizing the design, construction, maintenance, and support of these instruments will increase the efficiency and rigor of our microscopy experiments, while freeing lab personnel to focus on designing experiments and collecting data.