Neuroscience Blog
Updates on what’s happening in the world of micropositioning for neuroscience research.
Video: MPM Pathfinder & Neuropixels Trajectory Explorer
This short overview video shows how passing probe location coordinates from New Scale’s MPM Pathfinder software to the open-source Neuropixels Trajectory Explorer software allows researchers to see probe locations in the Allen Institute Common Coordinate...Webinar on Demand: MPM Pathfinder & Neuropixels Trajectory Explorer
Watch this on-demand webinar for a 1-hour demonstration, with question and answer session, about using Pathfinder and Neuropixels Trajectory Explorer, hosted by Ed Friedrich, Life Sciences Business Manager, New Scale Technologies, and Andrew Peters, developer of Neuropixels Trajectory Explorer and Principal Investigator, Peters Lab, University of Oxford Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics.
Pathfinder V2.8 for MPM Neural Probe Manipulator System Released
Support for integration with open-source trajectory planning and data acquisition apps is the key feature in the latest release of New Scale MPM Pathfinder Software for the MPM Multi-Probe Micromanipulator (MPM) System. New Scale Technologies has announced general...
New Target Images for MPM System Setup
MPM System Setup screen has new target images (calibration blocks) for larger adult mouse and adult rat. The upcoming Pathfinder MPM Software V2.8.5 release for the Multi-Probe Micromanipulator (MPM) System includes two additional target images (also called...
Deisseroth Lab explores link between cardiac physiology and emotional states
Figure from the recent Deisseroth Lab article in Nature: d, Electrode tracks from n = 5 mice (3 ChRmine and 2 control) over 60 recording sessions co-registered to the common Allen Brain Atlas. e, Locations of recorded single units overlaid onto the Allen Brain Atlas....
Use gaming controllers with the MPM System
The upcoming Pathfinder software release for the Multi-Probe Micromanipulator (MPM) System contains a number of features and enhancements* suggested by our users. One such feature is support for Xbox-style gaming controllers (wired, or with Bluetooth or USB wireless...
MPM System supports research into cellular-level mechanisms underlying brain function
Researchers at the Deisseroth Lab at Stanford University use the MPM Multi-Probe Micromanipulator for in-vivo electrophysiology with optogenetic stimulation. They published results in an article, “Cell-type-specific population dynamics of diverse reward computations,”...
Allen Institute shares protocol for inserting multiple probes in awake, head-fixed mice
Allen Brain Observatory Neuropixels recording rig, from the paper in Nature Protocols. The label “f” indicates one of the six three-axis New Scale manipulators in the rig. As the creator and supplier of the Multi-Probe Manipulator System (MPM), we often are asked to...
Slow insertion of silicon probes improves neural recording quality
A paper provides convincing evidence for the benefits of inserting silicon probes slowly into the brain for acute neural recording. The New Scale MPM Multi-Probe Micromanipulator System enables slow, smooth, and fully programmable insertion speeds.
Big Science. Big Data. Big Discoveries.
NEUROSCIENCE 2022 WRAP-UP By David Henderson, CEO It was great to be in-person for Neuroscience 2022, and to see first-hand the amazing work being done by our partners and customers around the world. The MPM Micro-Manipulator System was shown at four booths: New Scale...
MPM System: Pathfinder Software with trajectory planning and data acquisition apps
NEUROSCIENCE 2022 SNEAK PREVIEW – MPM PATHFINDER The integration of the MPM Multi-Probe Micromanipulator System’s Pathfinder Software with trajectory planning and data acquisition apps with will allow you to simulate, plan, execute, debug and repeat your...
Optogenetics: Lighting up the brain enables surprising discoveries
Image credit: Laser Focus World / Travis Babola A recent article in Laser Focus World explains the basics of optogenetics and describes newer techniques, like single-cell and holographic optogenetics, that allow neuroscientists to give every cell its own code and to...
Neural Probe Trajectory Planning and Automated Insertion
Obtaining successful in-vivo electrophysiological recordings with silicon neural probes requires a set of carefully executed activities which include: Careful planning of the optimum insertion path. Accurate placement of the probe to enter the brain at the designated...
Using Probe Mount 1AS and Alignment Fixture with Neuropixels 1.0 Probes
By clamping as far back from the probe shank as possible, the MPM Probe Mount 1As allows researchers to maximize the density of probes in multi-probe neural recording experiments. Mount Maximizes Density of Neuropixels 1.0 Probes in Multi-Probe Recording New Scale’s...See the MPM System live at the Allen Institute
New Scale Technologies’ micro-manipulators at the Allen Institute (photos by the Allen Institute) Are you interested in learning about multi-probe experimental techniques with Neuropixels probes… from the experts in extracellular electrophysiology recording?...
Optogenetics and the Multi-Probe Micromanipulator
Optogenetics has progressed rapidly from its beginnings in 2005, thanks in part to advances in supporting fields including photonics and micro-mechatronics. The MPM Micromanipulator is unique in its ability to simultaneously position multiple silicon probes and optical fibers for optogenetics.
SPIE publication explores photonics and the brain
The Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Photonics Focus, a publication of the international society for optics and photonics (SPIE), examines multiple perspectives on photonics and the brain. Several articles suggest future applications for silicon probes, beyond their current use...
Multi-Probe Micromanipulator helps researchers explore fMRI connectivity
An article in Nature Communications describes how researchers in Italy combined neural manipulations, resting-state fMRI and in vivo electrophysiology (using the New Scale MPM Multi-Probe Micromanipulator) to probe how inactivation of a cortical node causally affects brain-wide fMRI coupling in the mouse.
