This article introduces a novel 3D real-time motion correction (3D-RTMC) platform designed for high-speed, two-photon voltage and calcium imaging in the brains of active mice. By using nearby neurons as stable reference points, the researchers successfully captured the rapid electrical dynamics of hippocampal CA1 dendrites that were previously obscured by physical movement. Their findings demonstrate that action potentials attenuate significantly as they travel further from the cell body, though somatic bursts propagate more effectively than single spikes. The study also reveals that the complexity of dendritic branching progressively separates voltage signals from calcium dynamics, especially in distal regions. These results suggest that dendrites serve as independent computational units capable of processing information separately from the main cell body. Ultimately, this technology provides a more precise method for observing how individual neurons integrate signals during awake behavior.

References:

• Gonzalez K C, Terada S, Noguchi A, et al. Movement-stabilized three-dimensional optical recordings of membrane potential changes and calcium dynamics in hippocampal CA1 dendrites[J]. Neuron, 2026.