By Dean Murray
Scientists have created virtual reality goggles – for mice.
Cornell University researchers built the tiny eyepieces – called MouseGoggles – to study the clever critters’ neural activity when responding to what they see.
It is hoped studies will give new insights into disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and its potential treatments.
Cornell University said: “Thanks to their genetic makeup, their ability to navigate mazes and their willingness to work for cheese, mice have long been a go-to model for behavioral and neurological studies.”
The MouseGoggles were created using low-cost, off-the-shelf components, such as smartwatch displays and tiny lenses.
They are designed to offer visual stimulation over a wide field of view while tracking the mouse’s eye movements and changes in pupil size.
Cornell say the technology has the potential to help reveal the neural activity that informs spatial navigation and memory function, which can inform human treatments.
Previous technology saw cumbersome – and costly – projector screens for mice to navigate virtual-reality environments.
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The MouseGoggles replace the clunky apparatuses, which suffered light pollution and noise disrupting the experiments.
Tests using the new eyewear included tricking a mouse into believing that an expanding dark blotch was approaching them.
Matthew Isaacson, co-lead author and postdoctoral researcher, said: “When we tried this kind of a test in the typical VR setup with big screens, the mice did not react at all. But almost every single mouse, the first time they see it with the goggles, they jump. They have a huge startle reaction. They really did seem to think they were getting attacked by a looming predator.”
The research, published on Dec. 12 in Nature Methods, was led by Chris Schaffer, professor of biomedical engineering in Cornell Engineering, and Ian Ellwood, assistant professor in neurobiology and behavior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Doctoral student Hongyu Chang was also co-lead author.
Matthew Isaacson adds: “It’s a rare opportunity, when building tools, that you can make something that is experimentally much more powerful than current technology, and that is also simpler and cheaper to build.
“It’s bringing more experimental power to neuroscience, and it’s a much more accessible version of the technology, so it could be used by a lot more labs.”
