imaging neuronal activity in the optic tectum of late stage larval zebrafish

The zebrafish is an established model to study the development and function of visual neuronal circuits in vivo, largely due to their optical accessibility at embryonic and larval stages. In the past decade multiple experimental paradigms have been developed to study visually-driven behaviours, particularly those regulated by the optic tectum, the main visual centre in lower vertebrates. With few exceptions these techniques are limited to young larvae (7–9 days post-fertilisation, dpf). However, many forms of visually-driven behaviour, such as shoaling, emerge at later developmental stages. Consequently, there is a need for an experimental paradigm to image the visual system in zebrafish larvae beyond 9 dpf. Here, we show that using NBT:GCaMP3 line allows for imaging neuronal activity in the optic tectum in late stage larvae until at least 21 dpf. Utilising this line, we have characterised the receptive field properties of tectal neurons of the 2–3 weeks old fish in the cell bodies and the neuropil. The NBT:GCaMP3 line provides a complementary approach and additional opportunities to study neuronal activity in late stage zebrafish larvae.