LCOS-Based Laser Visual Stimulation System for Functional Brain Imaging

Precise visual stimulation delivery is vital to systems neuroscience research. We developed a LCoS-based laser display system, enabling stable visual stimulation spectrally compatible with multi-photon imaging. High-power laser sources with different wavelengths (450 nm, 532 nm, and 637 nm) were employed, and the projection distortion was corrected, resulting in high accuracy pattern generation. We performed receptive field mapping via in-vivo multi-photon calcium imaging in Drosophila ring neurons using white noise stimulation, demonstrating spatiotemporally robust visual stimulation generation. This system can also be compatible with simultaneous optogenetic stimulation, enabling spectrally complex experiments for understanding neural circuits of vision.