3 Technological Advances Enabling Natural Neuroscience

Sydney Brenner (2002) famously said: “Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas, probably in that order” (the original sentence was slightly different, but this is the version that has been consolidated in scientists’ collective memory). While some may argue with this particular order, it is clear that new techniques enable major breakthroughs in science, as has been demonstrated time and again in the history of every scientific field, including neuroscience. The idea advocated in this book—that is it crucial to study the brain in freely moving animals under evermore naturalistic conditions—has been around for many decades, as discussed in chapter 2. However, it was difficult to fulfill this idea due to limited techniques. Therefore, with a few exceptions, this idea remained mostly a long-term dream, while most neuroscientists continued to study the brain in anesthetized and/or head-fixed animals, or in vitro. However, this situation has changed dramatically over the last decade, with the advent of a series of new and powerful methods and technologies, which finally have allowed this dream to come true. This chapter will survey some of these new methods.