Miniature stereo radio transmitter for simultaneous recording of multiple single-neuron signals from behaving owls

Wireless radiotelemetric transmission of neuronal activity is an elegant te chnique to study brain-behavior interaction in unrestrained animals. In the current study, a miniature FM-stereo radio transmitter is described that p ermitted simultaneous recordings from two microelectrodes in behaving barn owls. Input from two independent channels is multiplexed to form a stereo c omposite signal that modulates a radio frequency carrier. The high quality of broadcasted extracellular signals enabled separation of single units bas ed on differences in spike waveforms. Recording several single cells from d ifferent electrodes allows the possibility of investigating correlations be tween small, distributed neuronal ensembles. Multi-channel radiotelemetry t hat meets the demands of modern electrophysiology might open a new perspect ive for combined behavioral/neurophysiological approaches in freely-behavin g animals. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.