Some behavioral experiments reward correct performance. A typical response is a lick of a spout and the reward is a fixed volume of water. One simple way to achieve this is by using an Arduino board along with the capacitive sensing library. The diagram below summarizes the parts used. Just connect a 1 Mohm resistor between pins…
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Using the quadrature encoder to track locomotion
Scanbox allows you to acquire the position of a rotating platform at each frame of the microscope. To do so, you need a quadrature encoder to be mounted on the axis of your platform. We use the US Digital HS-360-IE-S, but any quadrature encoder will do as well. The encoder needs to be wired to an Arduino…
Read MoreBlanking the laser between trials
Sometimes, during long behavioral sessions, it is advantageous to turn off the laser between trials to minimize damage while keeping the microscope scanning. To do this without introducing any additional noise that may influence the behavioral state we use the Pockels cell. Scanbox now allows one to blank the laser by sending a command over…
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