Decades of studies in non-human primates (NHPs) have been conducted in conditions of strict experimental control ofperception and behavior in order to understand the functions of the brain. For instance, experiments focused on visualperception often involve head fixation, unnaturally long eye fixation periods, and attention to locations away from thecenter of gaze. These paradigms require long training periods (months to a year). While such studies have advanced ourknowledge of brain function tremendously, a recurring question is how relevant the gathered data are to natural behavior.The availability of cutting-edge technologies and computational power can free us from the limitations of classicalexperimental paradigms and usher in a new generation of neuroscience questions focused on how the brain functions inreal world settings. Here we demonstrate a small head-mounted multimodal device for stimulating and recordingdomain-based cortical activity in NHPs. This device consists of an intrinsic optical signal imaging camera and a wirelessLED stimulator. To evaluate the functionality of this device, we compared its imaging performance in vivo to that ofcurrent benchtop intrinsic imaging systems and demonstrated the efficacy of wireless optogenetic stimulation whileconducting awake intrinsic imaging. Our device device has been constructed from off the shelf components and offersmultiareal and targeted stimulation and recording capabilities in minimally restrained subjects. It has a potential tocontribute to our understanding of cortical encoding of perception and behavior and could have clinical relevance for thedevelopment of brain-machine interfaces.
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