Functional Imaging of Dentate Granule Cells in the Adult Mouse Hippocampus.

We describe a technique that allows for chronic, functional imaging of dentate gyrus granule cells in awake, behaving mice in an intact hippocampal circuitry using genetically encoded calcium indicators. This novel approach enables the analyses of individual granule cell activity over time and provides a powerful tool to elucidate the mechanisms underlying structural and functional plasticity of the adult dentate gyrus.