SkinnerTrax: high-throughput behavior-dependent optogenetic stimulation of Drosophila

Abstract

While red-shifted channelrhodopsin has been shown to be highly effective in activating CNS neurons in freely moving Drosophila, there were no existing high-throughput tools for closed-loop, behavior-dependent optogenetic stimulation of Drosophila. Here, we present SkinnerTrax to fill this void. SkinnerTrax stimulates individual flies promptly in response to their being at specific positions or performing specific actions. Importantly, SkinnerTrax was designed for and achieves significant throughput with simple and inexpensive components.