Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An Immersive Virtual Reality System for Rodents in Behavioral and Neural Research

  • Research Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Automation and Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Context cognition involves abstractly deriving meaning from situational information in the world and is an important psychological function of higher cognition. However, due to the complexity of contextual information processing, along with the lack of relevant technical tools, little remains known about the neural mechanisms and behavioral regulation of context cognition. At present, behavioral training with rodents using virtual reality techniques is considered a potential key for uncovering the neurobiological mechanisms of context cognition. Although virtual reality technology has been preliminarily applied in the study of context cognition in recent years, there remains a lack of virtual scenario integration of multi-sensory information, along with a need for convenient experimental design platforms for researchers who have little programming experience. Therefore, in order to solve problems related to the authenticity, immersion, interaction, and flexibility of rodent virtual reality systems, an immersive virtual reality system based on visual programming was constructed in this study. The system had the ability to flexibly modulate rodent interactive 3D dynamic experimental environments. The system included a central control unit, virtual perception unit, virtual motion unit, virtual vision unit, and video recording unit. The neural circuit mechanisms in various environments could be effectively studied by combining two-photon imaging and other neural activity recording methods. In addition, to verify the proposed system’s performance, licking experiments were conducted with experimental mice. The results demonstrated that the system could provide a new method and tool for analyzing the neural circuits of the higher cognitive functions in rodents.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. S. Maren, K. L. Phan, I. Liberzon. The contextual brain: Implications for fear conditioning, extinction and psycho-pathology. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 417–428, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. F. Helmchen, W. Denk. Deep tissue two-photon microscopy. Nature Methods, vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 932–940, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/Nmeth818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. A. M. Packer, L. E. Russell, H. W. P. Dalgleish, M. Häusser. Simultaneous all-optical manipulation and recording of neural circuit activity with cellular resolution in vivo. Nature Methods, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 140–146, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.3217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Y P. Zhang, N. Holbro, T. G. Oertner. Optical induction of plasticity at single synapses reveals input-specific accumulation of αCaMKII. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no. 33, pp. 12039–12044, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802940105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Y. P. Zhang, T. G. Oertner. Optical induction of synaptic plasticity using a light-sensitive channel. Nature Methods, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 139–141, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. D. A. Dombeck, A. N. Khabbaz, F. Collman, T. L. Adelman, D. W. Tank. Imaging large-scale neural activity with cellular resolution in awake, mobile mice. Neuron, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 43–57, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2007.08.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. D. A. Dombeck, C. D. Harvey, L. Tian, L. L. Looger, D. W. Tank. Functional imaging of hippocampal place cells at cellular resolution during virtual navigation. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 1433–1440, 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. C. Schmidt-Hieber, M. Häusser. Cellular mechanisms of spatial navigation in the medial entorhinal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 325–331, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. M. J. Tarr, W. H. Warren. Virtual reality in behavioral neuroscience and beyond. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 1089–1092, 2002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. C. J. Bohil, B. Alicea, F. A. Biocca. Virtual reality in neuroscience research and therapy. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 752–762, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. T. D. Parsons, A. Gaggioli, G. Riva. Virtual reality for research in social neuroscience. Brain Sciences, vol. 7, no. 4, Article number 42, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7040042.

  12. T. D. Parsons. Virtual reality for enhanced ecological validity and experimental control in the clinical, affective and social neurosciences. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 9, Article number 660, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00660.

  13. M. Lovett-Barron, P. Kaifosh, M. A. Kheirbek, N. Danielson, J. D. Zaremba, T. R. Reardon, G. F. Turi, R. Hen, B. V. Zemelman, A. Losonczy. Dendritic inhibition in the hippocampus supports fear learning. Science, vol. 343, no. 6173, pp. 857–863, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1247485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. T. Hainmueller, M. Bartos. Parallel emergence of stable and dynamic memory engrams in the hippocampus. Nature, vol. 558, no. 7709, pp. 292–296, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0191-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. C. Hölscher, A. Schnee, H. Dahmen, L. Setia, H. A. Mallot. Rats are able to navigate in virtual environments. Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 208, no. 3, pp. 561–569, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. K. Thurley, A. Ayaz. Virtual reality systems for rodents. Current Zoology, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 109–119, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zow070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. N. J. Sofroniew, Y. A. Vlasov, S. Andrew Hires, J. Freeman, K. Svoboda. Neural coding in barrel cortex during whisker-guided locomotion. eLife, vol. 4, Article number e12559. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12559.

  18. B. A. Radvansky, D. A. Dombeck. An olfactory virtual reality system for mice. Nature Communications, vol. 9, no. 1, Article number 839, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03262-4.

  19. P. Ravassard, A. Kees, B. Willers, D. Ho, D. Aharoni, J. Cushman, Z. M. Aghajan, M. R. Mehta. Multisensory control of hippocampal spatiotemporal selectivity. Science, vol. 340, no. 6138, pp. 1342–1346, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. P. Kaifosh, M. Lovett-Barron, G. F. Turi, T. R. Reardon, A. Losonczy. Septo-hippocampal GABAergic signaling across multiple modalities in awake mice. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 1182–1184, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Z. M. Aghajan, L. Acharya, J. J. Moore, J. D. Cushman, C. Vuong, M. R. Mehta. Impaired spatial selectivity and intact phase precession in two-dimensional virtual reality. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 121–128, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. A. Malvache, S. Reichinnek, V. Villette, C. Haimerl, R. Cossart. Awake hippocampal reactivations project onto orthogonal neuronal assemblies. Science, vol. 353, no. 6305, pp. 1280–1283, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf3319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. M. E. J. Sheffield, D. A. Dombeck. Calcium transient prevalence across the dendritic arbour predicts place field properties. Nature, vol. 517, no. 7533, pp. 200–204, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. J. D. Cushman, D. B. Aharoni, B. Willers, P. Ravassard, A. Kees, C. Vuong, B. Popeney, K. Arisaka, M. R. Mehta. Multisensory control of multimodal behavior: Do the legs know what the tongue is doing? PLoS One, vol. 8, no. 11, Article number e80465, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080465.

  25. J. W. Li, W. Gao, Y. H. Wu. Elaborate scene reconstruction with a consumer depth camera. International Journal of Automation and Computing, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 443–453, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-018-1114-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. C. D. Harvey, F. Collman, D. A. Dombeck, D. W. Tank. Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation. Nature, vol. 461, no. 7266, pp. 941–946, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Li Liu, Zi-Yang Wang & Yu Liu

  2. Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-inspired Intelligence Technology, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Chun Xu

  3. Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Chun Xu

Authors
  1. Li Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zi-Yang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yu Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chun Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yu Liu or Chun Xu.

Additional information

Colored figures are available in the online version at https://link.springer.com/journal/11633

Li Liu

received the B. Sc. degree in mechatronic engineering from Hebei University of Science and Technology, China in 2001. She was awarded senior engineer by Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, China in 2015. Currently, she is a developer at Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Her research interests include virtual reality and brain cognition.

Zi-Yang Wang

received the B. Sc. degree in electronic information science and technology from China Agricultural University, China in 2013, and the Ph. D. degree in agricultural electrification and automation from China Agricultural University, China in 2019. Currently, he is a post-doctor at Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

His research interests include electrical signals processing, electrophysiology, brain-computer interface, and cognitive assessment.

Yu Liu

received the B. Sc. degree in automation, the M. Sc. degree in pattern recognition and intelligent systems, from Beijing Institute of Technology, China in 2001 and 2004, respectively, and the Ph. D. degree in pattern recognition and intelligent systems from Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China in 2010. He is currently a professor of Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

His research interests include artificial intelligence and cognitive assessment.

Chun Xu

received the B. Sc. degree in biology from Xiamen University, China in 2003, and the Ph. D. degree in neurobiology from Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China in 2009. He conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Andreas Lüthi in the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Switzerland in 2009–2016. He joined Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China as a principal investigator in January 2017. He is the head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology of Context and Behavior, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

His research interests include context perception, spatial navigation and emotional memory.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, L., Wang, ZY., Liu, Y. et al. An Immersive Virtual Reality System for Rodents in Behavioral and Neural Research. Int. J. Autom. Comput. 18, 838–848 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-021-1307-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-021-1307-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation