Reproducibility of in-vivo electrophysiological measurements in mice
Understanding whole-brain-scale electrophysiological recordings will rely on the collective work of multiple labs. Because two labs recording from the same brain area often reach different conclusions, it is critical to quantify and control for features that decrease reproducibility. To address these issues, we formed a multi-lab collaboration using a shared, open-source behavioral task and experimental apparatus. We repeatedly inserted Neuropixels multi-electrode probes targeting the same brain locations (called the repeated site, including posterior parietal cortex, hippocampus, and thalamus) in mice performing the behavioral task. We gathered data across 9 labs and developed a common histological and data processing pipeline to analyze the resulting large datasets. Our results demonstrate that across-lab standardization of electrophysiological procedures can lead to reproducible results across labs.
Our protocols to achieve reproducibility, along with our analyses to evaluate it are openly accessible to the scientific community, along with our extensive electrophysiological dataset with corresponding behavior and open-source analysis code. The links for these resources can be found below:
White Paper: IBL Video Data Analysis Pipeline
White Paper: IBL Spike Sorting Pipeline
Electrophysiology rig set up instructions
Protocol for electrophysiology recording with Neuropixels
Protocol for craniotomy surgery
Protocol for labeling the tip of Neuropixels probes
Protocol for perfusion and shipment of brain sample
Protocol for registering the electrode location using LASAGNA