ABSTRACT
Light Field Microscopy (LFM) is an emerging technique for neuroimaging with a high potential for dissemination in the neuroscience community. This computational imaging method offers outstandingly high-volume acquisition rates (up to 100 Hz), and fields-of-view large enough for whole-brain imaging of neuronal activity – as reported by genetically encoded calcium indicators – in small model organisms, such as larval zebrafish and C. elegans. LFM stands out from competing imaging methods due to its simplicity and versatility. The technique is uniquely scalable to larger fields-of-view, since acquisition of an entire volume is performed in a single shot, i.e. without the need for time-consuming scanning of an excitation beam or detection optics. In recent developments, LFM has been shown to be capable of imaging neural activity deep in scattering tissue such as the mammalian neocortex. Moreover, the approach was recently shown to allow for imaging whole-brain activity in freely swimming fish by LFM-enabled closed-loop sample positioning combined with LFM imaging at 70 Hz.
