Home

Welcome to the RodentJoystick wiki! This wiki contains hardware and software documentation for the joystick project at Cornell University's Goldberg Lab.

We are interested in the neural basis for learning and execution of goal-directed movement. Mammalian motor systems are complex and distributed, making it difficult to dissect the roles of specific elements. To address this, we designed a forelimb center-out reach task in mice that allows us to specify the role of genetically accessible elements (specific cell types, projections) in a high-throughput fashion.

Specifically,using fully automated training and closed-loop optogenetics in joystick-endowed homecages, we can train freely moving mice in a direction-specific center-out reach task while inactivating different brain regions and projections.

The instructions for building the Joystick, the Homecages and the real-time data acquisition and analysis systems are here This document will be periodically updated/revised.

Video Instructions are available on this youtube playlist.

Codebase maintained by: Teja Bollu, Brian Kardon

PI Jesse Goldberg

Alumni:

Undergraduates Raghav Subramaniam ('15), Tori Ricelli ('16), Nitin Shyamkumar ('17), Nikil Prasad ('17),

Technician Jackson Walker ('15).