Skip to main content

Acute In Vivo Multielectrode Recordings from the Mouse Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Circadian Clocks

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2130))

Abstract

The discovery of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) as the master mammalian pacemaker has since opened up a variety of alternative methods for assessing how external timing cues influence the clock. One powerful approach for understanding how sensory inputs influence the SCN is to monitor acute changes in SCN electrophysiological activity via in vivo extracellular recording. This methodology offers the ability to monitor stimulus-evoked changes in SCN function at very fine timescales and to rapidly test multiple stimuli and/or stimulus repeats within a single animal. In this chapter we describe our methods for acute in vivo multielectrode recording in head-fixed, anesthetized rodents. These allow for monitoring of single-cell/population activity for >12 h; enable the delivery of carefully controlled sensory stimuli; can be used alongside an array of established or novel experimental tools; and are easily adapted to study activity in any other brain region.

Joshua Mouland and Lauren Walmsley are Joint first authors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rusak B, Robertson HA, Wisden W, Hunt SP (1990) Light pulses that shift rhythms induce gene expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Science 248(4960):1237–1240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gillette MU (1986) The suprachiasmatic nuclei: circadian phase-shifts induced at the time of hypothalamic slice preparation are preserved in vitro. Brain Res 379:176–181

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Yamazaki S, Numano R, Abe M, Hida A, Takahashi R, Ueda M, Block GD, Sakaki Y, Menaker M, Tei H (2000) Resetting central and peripheral circadian oscillators in transgenic rats. Science 288:682–685

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Meijer JH, Groos GA, Rusak B (1986) Luminance coding in a circadian pacemaker: the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the rat and the hamster. Brain Res 382:109–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Meijer JH, Rusak B, Gänshirt G (1992) The relation between light-induced discharge in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and phase shifts of hamster circadian rhythms. Brain Res 598(1–2):257–263

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Walmsley L, Brown TM (2015) Eye-specific visual processing in the mouse suprachiasmatic nuclei. J Physiol 5937:1731–1743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Walmsley L, Hanna L, Mouland J, Martial F, West A, Smedley AR, Bechtold DA, Webb AR, Lucas RJ, Brown TM (2015) Colour as a signal for entraining the mammalian circadian clock. PLoS Biol 13(4):e1002127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brown TM, Wynne J, Piggins HD, Lucas RJ (2011) Multiple hypothalamic cell populations encoding distinct visual information. J Physiol 589(5):1173–1194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Howarth M, Walmsley L, Brown TM (2014) Binocular integration in the mouse lateral geniculate nuclei. Curr Biol 24(11):1241–1247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Storchi R, Bedford RA, Martial FP, Allen AE, Wynne J, Montemurro MA, Petersen RS, Lucas RJ, Storchi R, Bedford RA, Martial FP, Allen AE, Wynne J (2017) Modulation of fast narrowband oscillations in the mouse retina and dLGN according to background light intensity report modulation of fast narrowband oscillations in the mouse retina and dLGN according to background light intensity. Neuron 93(2):299–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Allen AE, Brown TM, Lucas RJ (2011) A distinct contribution of short-wavelength-sensitive cones to light-evoked activity in the mouse pretectal olivary nucleus. J Neurosci 31(46):16833–16843

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Dasilva M, Storchi R, Davis KE, Grieve KL, Lucas RJ (2016) Melanopsin supports irradiance-driven changes in maintained activity in the superior colliculus of the mouse. Eur J Neurosci 44:2314–2323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Sakhi K, Wegner S, Belle MDC, Howarth M, Delagrange P, Brown TM, Piggins HD (2016) Intrinsic and extrinsic cues regulate the daily profile of mouse lateral habenula neuronal activity. J Physiol 22:5025–5045

    Google Scholar 

  14. Maggi CA, Meli A (1986) Suitability of urethane anesthesia for physiopharmacological investigations in various systems. Part 1: general considerations. Experientia 42(2):109–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Nair G, Kim M, Nagaoka T, Olson DE, Thulé PM, Pardue MT, Duong TQ (2011) Effects of common anesthetics on eye movement and electroretinogram. Doc Ophthalmol 122:163–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Pachitariu M, Steinmetz N, Kadir S, Carandini M, Harris KD (2016) Kilosort: realtime spike-sorting for extracellular electrophysiology with hundreds of channels. bioRxiv

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert J. Lucas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this protocol

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this protocol

Mouland, J., Walmsley, L., Brown, T.M., Lucas, R.J. (2021). Acute In Vivo Multielectrode Recordings from the Mouse Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. In: Brown, S.A. (eds) Circadian Clocks. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2130. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0381-9_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0381-9_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0380-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0381-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics