We are firm believers in open science. Here you can find links to tools (whether hardware or software) that we have generated, or contributed to, and may be of use to other labs. We include a brief description of each tool, with links to the relevant publication and/or code repository. If you are interested in these tools and have specific questions (after reading the linked material) contact information is provided in each section.
The “Apollo” implant for chronic Neuropixels recordings
We have developed the “Apollo Implant”: A a lightweight, affordable, and flexible chronic implantation system for Neuropixels 1.0 and 2.0 probes. The implant has been successfully printed and tested in more than 8 labs, with freely moving mice and rats, and head-fixed mice. Recording quality typically remains stable for 3-4 weeks post-implantation (varies with implant quality and location). Editable CAD files are freely available on the lab github, and more details can be found in our preprint. If you have further questions about the implant, email Pip.
Experimental control board
In collaboration with sound and electrical engineer, Max Hunter, we developed a cheap, compact, and versatile experimental control board. This board supplies constant voltage and current channels which are both adjustable (0-24V and 0-1A respectively). It can control a peltier for constant temperature, has valve-control circuits for delivering liquid rewards, and a photodiode circuit for tracking screen refreshes. The centralised Arduino Nano has spare pins for general use. We use one board per rig in our lab. Email Max to buy premade boards, and checkout the files on Github.