2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
△ [13p-S401-7] Development of a whole neural network tracking system for real-time high-resolution light-field imaging in freely behaving C. elegans.
Keywords:fluorescent imaging, image analysis, cell tracking
How does the spatiotemporal pattern of brain networks decline in the aging process? Understanding such patterns requires a method for quantifying neural activities noninvasively and repeatedly throughout life-course. Here, we are developing a system to quantify a whole-brain activity in freely behaving nematode C. elegans. We developed the software that extracts fluorescence of a calcium indicator G-CaMP expressed in all neurons of worms. Then, this software controls the motorized stage to keep all neurons of a worm under the field of view of the microscope. Combining this tracking system with our developed high-resolution light-field microscopy for real-time, scan-less imaging will allow for examining the spatiotemporal pattern of an aging neural network at single-cell resolution in the future.