Abstract
Fiber photometry offers insight into cell-type-specific activity underlying behavior. Recordings are often performed in response to predictive, time-controlled behavioral paradigms. However, under more ecological conditions, sensory stimuli and animal exploratory behavior can be unpredictable. In this context, we recorded the animal's behavior, synchronized it with the acquisition of the fiber photometry data and extracted data of interest for analysis. We present here a workflow from intracerebral implantation of optical fibers in mice, for fiber photometry tracings analysis in relation to the animal exploratory behaviors via video recordings. We highlighted the efficiency of the method by assessing calcium activity and dopaminergic dynamics in the olfactory tubercle of adult C57Bl/6J mice in response to attractive and non-attractive odorants in freely moving mice. Using rGeco1a biosensor, we revealed an increase of calcium signaling in response to odorants, regardless of their hedonic value, while using dLight1.2, we observed a higher level of dopamine release in response to attractive compared to unattractive odorants. In conclusion, we provide here a new method that permits automated pairing of fiber photometry data with video recordings of exploratory behaviors to better understand the neural bases of olfactory hedonics in freely moving mice.