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The design of a miniature multichannel preamplifier for extracellular recordings of single unit activity in freely moving and swimming small animals is presented. The advantages of this design include perfect protection of the critical components and electric contacts from water. Thus, neuronal activity and EEG may be recorded differentially in any kinds of behavioral tasks including swimming in Morris water maze. Recordings are stable even if an animal is diving and swimming under the water surface. The reusable dismountable base can adopt different types of chronically implanted fine wire electrodes and movable arrays. Electrodes may be implanted to any desired depth. The assembly weight is less than 240 mg. Thus, the construction is light enough even for mice. This work is the first successful attempt for multichannel recording of neuronal activity in mice performing spatial task in Morris water maze., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The design of a removable miniature microdrive-headstage waterproof assembly for extracellular recordings of single unit activity with high-impedance electrodes in swimming mice is presented. The assembly provides perfect protection of the critical components and electric contacts from water. Neuronal activity may be recorded even if the animal is diving and swimming under the water surface. The advantages of this construction include simple installation and removal of the electrodes, rapid attachment of the assembly to the animal's skull, and rapid removal after recording. The device provides precise vertical positioning of the electrode without rotation or lateral shift, stable recordings of single units for several hours and the possibility to change the penetration track many times in the same animal. The assembly weight is less than 160mg. This work is the first successful attempt to record neuronal activity in mice performing spatial task in water maze.

The design of a removable miniature microdrive-headstage assembly for extracellular recordings of single unit activity with high-impedance electrodes in freely moving small animals is presented. The advantages of this construction include simple installation and removal of the electrodes, rapid attachment of the assembly to the animal's skull and rapid removal after recording. The microdrive provides precise vertical positioning of the electrode without rotation or lateral shift, stable recordings of single units for several hours and the possibility to change the penetration track 5-10 times in the same animal. The microdrive permits microelectrode penetration to any desired depth. The small size of the microdrive permits installation of several units simultaneously. The assembly weight is less than 120mg.

The new design of a removable miniature microdrive for extracellular recordings of single-unit activity in freely moving animals with high-impedance electrodes is presented. The construction permits very simple installation and removal of the microelectrodes, rapid fixation of the microdrive on the animals skull and rapid removal after recording. The microdrive provides vertical positioning of the electrode without rotations and lateral shifts, stable recordings of single units for several hours and the possibility to change the penetration track 20-30 times in the same animal. The 3.2-mm diameter of the microdrive cylinder permits the installation of several units simultaneously. The weight of the microdrive with the base is 115 mg. The microdrive permits penetrations to any desired depth.