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. 2025 Aug 7;188(16):4401-4423.e31.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.028. Epub 2025 Jul 16.

Imaging high-frequency voltage dynamics in multiple neuron classes of behaving mammals

Affiliations

Imaging high-frequency voltage dynamics in multiple neuron classes of behaving mammals

Simon Haziza et al. Cell. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Fluorescent genetically encoded voltage indicators report transmembrane potentials of targeted cell types. However, voltage-imaging instrumentation has lacked the sensitivity to track spontaneous or evoked high-frequency voltage oscillations in neural populations. Here, we describe two complementary TEMPO (transmembrane electrical measurements performed optically) voltage-sensing technologies that capture neural oscillations up to ∼100 Hz. Fiber-optic TEMPO achieves ∼10-fold greater sensitivity than prior photometric voltage sensing, allows hour-long recordings, and monitors two neuron classes per fiber-optic probe in freely moving mice. With it, we uncovered cross-frequency-coupled theta- and gamma-range oscillations and characterized excitatory-inhibitory neural dynamics during hippocampal ripples and visual cortical processing. The TEMPO mesoscope images voltage activity in two cell classes across an ∼8-mm-wide field of view in head-fixed animals. In awake mice, it revealed sensory-evoked excitatory-inhibitory neural interactions and traveling gamma and 3-7 Hz waves in visual cortex and bidirectional propagation directions for both hippocampal theta and beta waves. These technologies have widespread applications probing diverse oscillations and neuron-type interactions in healthy and diseased brains.

Keywords: beta oscillations; fluorescence imaging; gamma oscillations; local field potentials; neural dynamics; sharp wave ripples; theta oscillations; voltage imaging; voltage indicators; voltage waves.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests M.J.S. is co-author of a U.S. patent, and S.H., R.C., and M.J.S. have pending patent applications related to the work in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. uSMAART photometry captures neural voltage activity up to 100 Hz
(A) uSMAART schematic. APD, avalanche photodiode; BPF, bandpass filter; BS, beam splitter; DM, dichroic mirror; FC/APC and FC/PC, angled and flat physical contact fiber connectors; LFP, local field potential; PD, photodiode. Blue and green laser emissions of distinct modulation frequencies are jointly coupled into optical fiber, traverse a dual-stage diffuser, and illuminate the brain via a fiber wrapped around a mandrel. Fluorescence signals from the brain are captured by APDs and undergo phase-sensitive demodulation. Inset: absorption and emission spectra for single- and dual-cell-type voltage sensing, with mRuby and cyOFP, respectively, as reference fluors. See STAR Methods. (B) To monitor hippocampal PV cells (C–I), we virally expressed ASAP3 and mRuby2 in PV-Cre mice and implanted an optical fiber and LFP electrode atop CA1, as shown in a coronal view (−1.9 mm A-P from bregma). (C) Fluorescence images of a coronal section from a PV-Cre mouse showing ASAP3 (left), mRruby2 (middle), and joint (right) expression in strata pyramidale (pyr.), oriens (ori.), and radiatum (rad.) in CA1. Scale bar: 50 μm. (D) LFP (black), ASAP3 (green), and mRuby2 (red) traces in a freely behaving PV-Cre mouse, plus theta- and beta-bandpass-filtered versions. ASAP3 signals are shown reversed in sign relative to all other figures, to highlight anti-correlations to the LFP. (E) Locomotor speed (top), LFP spectrogram (middle), and coherence between LFP and ASAP3 signals (bottom) for a recording with the mouse of (D). (F) Power spectra for LFP (right) and ASAP3 signals (left) for recordings of (E) for times when the mouse was running or resting. Running boosted theta- and beta-band power and coherence (E). (G) Coherence between LFP and either ASAP3 (green) or mRuby2 (red) traces acquired in the mouse of (D) during running or resting. 2θ, a theta harmonic. (H) Same as (F), averaged across 6 mice. Gray dots in (H) and (I): frequencies at which running and resting values differed (signed-rank tests; p < 0.05; n = 6 mice). Shading: SEM over 6 mice. (I) Same as (G), averaged across n = 6 mice. Running increased theta, beta, and gamma activity. Shading: SEM over 6 mice. See also Figures S1 and S2.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. uSMAART captures cell-type-specific CFC
(A–F) Delta-gamma coupling in ASAP3-labeled PV cells in area V1 of KX-anesthetized mice. (A and B) PV cell voltage traces (upper) showing delta oscillations. Low- (middle) and high- (bottom) gamma activity rose during up-states in the delta rhythm. Asterisks in (B) mark low- and high-gamma events. (C) Wavelet spectrogram for the mouse of (A) averaged over 257 delta cycles (0.9 Hz), showing two gamma peaks at distinct delta phases. Maximal hyperpolarization of delta is at 0°. (D) Mean voltage signals in the delta band (1.0 ± 0.5 Hz; black, left axis) and delta-phase-dependent modulation (right axis) of low- (solid olive) and high-gamma (dashed olive) activity. Arrows mark phases of peak low- or high-gamma activity. Shading: SEM over 122 events. (E) Raw, low-, and high-gamma-band-filtered traces of LFP and PV cell TEMPO signals in a different mouse than in (A)–(D). (F) Plots of coherence between LFP signals and those of ASAP3-labeled PV cells (green), temporally shuffled ASAP3 traces (teal), or the reference fluor (red) for the mouse of (E) computed across 2-s (left) or 0.2-s (right) intervals. Gray dots: frequencies at which the green and red curves differ significantly (rank-sum test; p < 0.05). Shading: SEM over 10 epochs, each of 44 s. (G–J) Theta-gamma coupling in PV cells of dorsal CA1 in an active mouse (labeling strategy of Figure 1B). (G and H) Wavelet spectrograms for LFP (G) and PV cell voltage (H) recordings aligned to LFP theta phase over two theta cycles (7.5 Hz). Maximal hyperpolarization of the LFP is at 0°. (I and J) Mean theta- (black; left axes) and gamma-band (olive; right axes) signal amplitudes for (I) LFP and (J) ASAP3 (solid) or mRuby2 (dashed) fluorescence signals. We made similar findings in n = 4 mice. Shading: 95% confidence interval (CI). (K–N) LFP and PV cell voltage signals during kainate-induced seizures in CA1 of an active mouse. (K) LFP- and ASAP3-labeled PV cell voltage traces, showing that an epileptic ictal spike in the former led to a ~100 ms depolarization in the latter. (L) LFP power spectra pre- (dashed) or post- (solid) kainate injection. (M) Cross-correlations between high-frequency (>50 Hz) LFP power and the amplitude (<10 Hz) of PV cell voltage (green) or reference fluor (red) signals pre- (dashed) or post- (solid) kainate injection. Shading: 95% CI over 21 epochs of 5 s, covering either pre-injection or seizure periods. (N) Ictal spike-triggered average activity in LFP, PV cell, reference, and temporally shuffled PV cell traces, showing PV cell depolarization after ictal spike onset. Shading: 95% CI over 21 epochs of 5 s, covering either pre-injection or seizure periods.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. uSMAART tracks voltage activity in two neuron types concurrently in active mice
(A–I) Visual stimulation evoked gamma oscillations in area V1 of awake mice. 3–7 Hz oscillations arose after stimulus offset. (A) Retro-orbital injection of 3 AAVs (PHP.eB serotype) in PV-Cre mice allowed expression of ASAP3 in PV cells, Varnam2 in pyramidal cells, and cyOFP in all neuron types. (B) Head-fixed mice viewed a monitor with one eye as we recorded voltage activity in the contralateral V1. Gratings drifted across the monitor (1.5-s trials spaced 2–5 s apart). (C) Visual stimuli evoked post-stimulus 3–7 Hz rhythms in PV and pyramidal cells. Each row shows one of 50 trials in the same mouse. (D) Mean fluorescence traces for all 3 fluors averaged over all 50 trials in (C). Shading in (D)–(I) shows 95% CI across trials. (E and F) Trial-averaged signal magnitudes (3–7 Hz in E; gamma [30–70 Hz] in F) computed for all 3 fluors via wavelet transforms. (G) Trial-averaged traces (n = 100 trials) for studies with opposite GEVI assignments to those in (A). (H and I) Same as (E) and (F) but for the studies of (G). (J) To study hippocampal ripple (120–200 Hz) events (J–Q), we performed dual-cell-type uSMAART (same viruses as A) and electrophysiological (32-channel silicon probe) recordings in area CA1 of freely moving PV-Cre mice. (K) Confocal images showing expression of ASAP3 (PV cells), Varnam2 (pyramidal cells), cyOFP (pan-neuronal), and an overlay. Scale bar: 100 μm. (L) Top: mouse speed. Bottom: spectrogram of LFP signals in CA1 stratum pyramidale. White asterisks: ripple events. Theta and ripple activity arose during locomotion and rest, respectively. (M) Power spectra of (left) LFP signals from CA1 (ori., stratum oriens; pyr, stratum pyramidale; rad., stratum radiatum; slm, stratum lacunosum moleculare) and (right) all 3 TEMPO channels during resting or running. (N and O) Coherence magnitude (left) and phase (right) between PV (top plots) or pyramidal cell (bottom plots) voltage and LFP signals across CA1 layers (0 mm denotes stratum pyramidale) during rest (N) or running (O). Theta and beta activity were cell-type, laminar, and behavioral-state-dependent. (P) Top: example ripple event (light gray) in a stratum pyramidale LFP recording. Bottom: LFP traces for 80 ripple events in the same mouse, aligned to ripple trough. (Q) PV and pyramidal cell voltage (bottom) and layer-dependent LFP (top) signals averaged over 273 ripples. Dashed lines: ripple peak. Gray dots mark times with significant differences between cell types (signed-rank test; p < 0.05). Shading: SEM. See also Figure S3.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Traveling cortical voltage waves with delta-gamma coupling in anesthetized mice
(A and B) Optical (A) and mechanical (B) designs of the TEMPO mesoscope. Light from two low-noise LEDs is monitored by photodiodes, reflects off a dual-band dichroic mirror (70 × 100 mm2) and reaches the specimen via a 0.5 NA objective lens. sCMOS cameras allow dual-color fluorescence detection. Insets: (A) cranial window, aligned to Allen Brain Atlas, used in this figure and Figures 5 and 7 to image across a 7–8 mm diameter (130 fps) or a sub-region (300 fps). (B) Lower left, large custom filter set. Upper right, imaging protocol for a green GEVI and a red reference fluor used continuous illumination and externally triggered image acquisition (800 Mbytes·s−1 per camera). BPF, bandpass filter; BS, beamsplitter; DM, dichroic mirror; LED, light-emitting diode; M1, primary motor cortex; ND, neutral density; PD, photodiode; RSP, retrosplenial cortex; S1, primary somatosensory cortex; V1, primary visual cortex. (C) Retro-orbitally injected AAV2/PHP.eB viruses expressed mRuby2 and Cre-dependent ASAP3 via CAG and EF-1α promoters, respectively, in either Cux2-CreERT2 or PV-Cre mice. Imaging in KX-anesthetized mice was at 130 fps (D–J) or 300 fps (K–R). See Video S2. (D) Images (50 ms apart) of cortical L2/3 pyramidal cells in a Cux2-CreERT2 mouse. Delta wave depolarization (red hues) swept anterior to posterior. Images were unmixed (Figure S5) but otherwise unfiltered. Brain area boundaries (A, inset) are in rightmost images. (E) Space-time plot (top) shows the anterior to posterior travel of waves in (D). Colors: mean signals averaged across the medio-lateral axis. Arrows: Anterior-posterior (A-P) locations for 3 color-corresponding fluorescence voltage traces (bottom). (F) Flow maps for example delta waves in Cux2-CreERT2 (top) and PV-Cre (bottom) mice. Here and in all figures, flow vectors are shown with uniform length. (G) Delta wave speed distributions in area V1 of 2 Cux2-CreERT2 (top) and 2 PV-Cre (bottom) mice. Insets: polar histograms of wave direction (200–405 delta events per mouse). (H–J) Maps characterizing coupled delta (0.5–4 Hz) and gamma (30–60 Hz) waves in example Cux2-CreERT2 (top) and PV-Cre (bottom) mice. (H) Gamma activity amplitudes rose during delta wave maxima up to ∼4-fold over baseline values in V1 and RSP. (I and J) Correlation coefficients, r, denoting the peak value of the temporal correlation function between each point’s voltage (I) or gamma-band-filtered (J) voltage trace and that at the black dot in V1. (K) Fluorescence voltage (top) and gamma-band-filtered (35–100 Hz, bottom) traces from V1 of the Cux2-CreERT2 mouse of (H)–(J). (L) Top: voltage (top) and gamma-band-filtered (35–100 Hz, bottom) traces from V1 of the 2 mice in (H)–(J) aligned to delta peaks, showing delta-gamma coupling (260 delta events per mouse). (M) Mean amplitudes of gamma-band voltage (solid) and reference (dashed) traces aligned to the delta peak and averaged over all delta events in each mouse of (G). Shading: 95% CI. (N and O) Traces of coupled delta (N, top) and gamma-band (N, middle) activity in V1 of the mouse of (K) and corresponding gamma-band-filtered image sequences (O). Gamma-filtered traces (N, bottom) are from the color-corresponding dot locations in the rightmost frame of (O). (Images in O were spatially low-pass-filtered for display purposes only). (P and Q) Flow maps (left) and speed distributions (right) for gamma events #1 (P) and #2 (Q) of (N) and (O). Insets: polar histograms of wave directions across the maps. (R) Wave speed distributions and direction histograms for 20 gamma events and all locations in V1 for mice of (H)–(J). Wave directions are roughly orthogonal to the carrier delta waves (E–G). See also Figures S4, S5, and S6.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.. Successive visually evoked gamma and 3–7 Hz waves in V1 of awake mice
(A) Visual stimulation was as in Figure 3B. Labeling was as in Figure 4C. (B and C) Traces (B) and power spectra (over 276-s recording) (C) of PV cell voltage signals averaged over visual (V1), motor (M1), or retrosplenial (RSP) cortices. In V1, visual stimuli evoked gamma activity and 3–7 Hz rhythms arose after stimulus offset. (D) Image sequences of visually evoked 3–7 Hz waves in PV cells of V1. Brain area boundaries shown at left. (E and F) Raster plots of raw (top) or gamma (30–60 Hz, bottom) PV cell voltage activity averaged over V1 (E) or M1 (F) showing V1 gamma and 3–7 Hz oscillations evoked during and after visual stimulation, respectively (50 trials; mouse of B–D). (G and H) Mean activity (G) and gamma-band signal magnitudes (H, computed via wavelet spectrogram) for 2 PV-Cre and 2 Cux2-CreERT2 mice, each with significantly elevated gamma signals during visual stimulation (p < 10−14 for a 0.5-s interval in the middle of stimulation compared to baseline values; n = 50 trials; rank-sum test). Shading: 95% CI over trials. (I–L) Maps of 3–7 Hz power (I) correlation coefficients (J and K) computed as in Figure 4I between each point and that at the black dot in V1 (J) or M1 (K), and visually evoked rises in gamma-band (30–60 Hz) signal amplitudes (L) for mice 1 and 3 in (H) (recordings of 275 and 266 s, respectively). Brain area boundaries are shown in (D). (M) Images (300 fps) showing two 3–7 Hz waves in V1 from mouse 1. (N and O) Flow maps (left) and speed distributions and direction histograms (right) for local wave propagation for events #1 (N) and #2 (O) of (M). (P) Speed distributions and direction histograms across all locations in V1 and 30 wave events (3–7 Hz) for each mouse of (I)–(L). (Q) Images (300 fps) of gamma-filtered (35–100 Hz) activity showing two gamma events in V1 from mouse of (M). Images were spatially low-pass filtered for display purposes only. (R and S) Flow maps (left) and distributions of speed and histograms of direction (right) for local wave propagation for events #1 (R) and #2 (S) of (Q). (T) Speed distributions and direction histograms over all locations in V1 and 50 gamma events in each of the PV-Cre and Cux2-CreERT2 mice of (L). See also Figures S6 and S7A.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.. Bidirectional locomotor-evoked theta and beta waves in hippocampus
(A) Top: mouse speed. Bottom: example broadband (top 3) and beta-filtered (15–30 Hz, bottom 3) concurrent traces of hippocampal LFP, ASAP3, and mRuby2 signals from a PV-Cre mouse. Fluorescence signals are averaged over the FOV. Arrows: events characterized in (G) and (H). (B–D) Power spectral densities of LFP (B) and fluorescence (C) signals and coherences (D) between them during resting and running for a 5-min recording in the mouse of (A) (see also Figures S7B and S7C). (E and F) Maps of beta-band (15–25 Hz) coherence between LFP and PV cell signals during running (E) or rest (F, top) or with the reference fluor during running (F, bottom). LFP electrode was in CA1 (upper right of the maps). (G) Space-time plots of PV activity during running projected onto CA3-CA1 (top) or septo-temporal (bottom) axes. Arrows: events marked in (A). (H and I) Images (300 fps) showing pairs of beta waves traveling along CA3-to-CA1 (H) or septo-to-temporal (I) axes. Arrows: propagation directions. (J) Distributions of speed and direction across 756 beta waves in 2 mice. (K) Same format as (A) but showing locomotor-evoked theta-band (5–9 Hz) activity in LS-projecting pyramidal cells. (L) Plots of coherence between LFP and either mRuby2 or ASAP signals from LS-projecting pyramidal cells over the entire recording (left) or separately for resting and running epochs (right). (M) Movie frames showing theta waves for LS-projecting pyramidal (top) or PV (middle, bottom) cells. Black arrows: propagation directions. (N) Distributions of speed and direction for theta waves in LS-projecting pyramidal (left; 3 mice) or PV (right; 2 mice) cells (441–1,094 theta waves per mouse).
Figure 7.
Figure 7.. Imaging the concurrent voltage dynamics of two neuron types in behaving mice
(A) Dual-cell-type labeling strategy as Figure 3A, except viruses were injected retro-orbitally. (B) Absorption and emission fluorescence spectra with LED spectra and emission filter passbands. (C) Confocal images of ASAP3, Varnam2, cyOFP, and joint expression patterns. L1, layer 1; L6, layer 6. Scale bar: 100 μm. (D) Timing protocol for dual-cell-type TEMPO imaging with 3 fluors and 2 cameras. (E) Visual stimulation paradigm as in Figure 3B. (F) Traces from ASAP3-expressing PV cells and Varnam2-expressing pyramidal cells averaged over V1. 3–7 Hz rhythms arose at stimulation offset. Arrows: events characterized in (L). (G–I) Mean wavelet spectrograms (G), fluorescence voltage traces for PV and pyramidal cells (H), and mean traces (I) averaged across V1 (n = 60 visual stimulation trials) for the mouse of (F). Shading in (I)–(K) shows 95% CI over trials. (J) Mean signal magnitudes in the 3–7 Hz band computed via wavelet spectrogram. (K) Top: gamma-band (30–70 Hz) PV cell activity for the 60 trials of (H). Bottom: traces of mean gamma-band magnitudes for all 3 fluors. (L) Images showing the 2 events marked in (F). Brain area boundaries shown at top (see Figure 4A). (M and N) Example maps (M) of correlation coefficients (top) and measured time delays (bottom) between excitatory and inhibitory activity in the 3–7 Hz band averaged over n = 98 stimulation trials for the mouse of (L). Distributions (N) of physiological time delays estimated for 4 recordings from 3 mice after correcting for time-lags induced by GEVI kinetics (Figures S7D–S7F). (O and P) Same as (M) and (N), respectively, but for mice with reversed labeling in which pyramidal and PV cells respectively express ASAP3 and Varnam2 (4 recordings total, 4 mice). (Q) Probability distributions aggregating data from (N) (black) and (P) (gray). See also Figures S7D–S7F.

Update of

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