Thesis Project Form

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is a revolutionary technique in experimental neuroscience because it allow measuring the activity of hundreds/thousands of anatomically identified neurons with subcellular resolution in the intact brain. However, to date two-photon microscopy has been limited to experimental preparations in which the sample is fixed under the microscope objective.

This thesis work will contribute to implement in the Fellin laboratory at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia a new lightweight miniaturized two-photon microscope (MINI2P, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422001970?via%3Dihub) which enables two-photon functional imaging in freely moving animals. The work includes design, assembly, and testing of the optical system as well as experimental measurements of neuronal activity and consequent data analysis using custom code. The work is part of an international collaboration.

The thesis will allow training in applied optics, fluorescence microscopy, experimental neuroscience, neurophysiology, data analysis, and code writing.