ABSTRACT
Spatial navigation, active sensing, and most cognitive functions rely on a tight link between motor output and sensory input. Virtual reality (VR) systems simulate the sensorimotor loop, allowing flexible manipulation of enriched sensory input. Conventional rodent VR systems provide 3D visual cues linked to restrained locomotion on a treadmill, leading to a mismatch between visual and most other sensory inputs, sensory-motor conflicts, as well as restricted naturalistic behavior. To rectify these limitations, we developed a VR system (ratCAVE) that provides realistic and low-latency visual feedback directly to head movements of completely unrestrained rodents. Immersed in this VR system, rats displayed naturalistic behavior by spontaneously interacting with and hugging virtual walls, exploring virtual objects, and avoiding virtual cliffs. We further illustrate the effect of ratCAVE-VR manipulation on hippocampal place fields. The newly-developed methodology enables a wide range of experiments involving flexible manipulation of visual feedback in freely-moving behaving animals.
