NeuroNexus · neuronexus.com · Glossary
Mouse EEG Electrode
EEG in a mouse is recorded from the skull surface, and the electrode is either a few bone-screw electrodes or a thin-film grid of 16 to 32 platinum sites on 12 µm polyimide, aligned to bregma and fixed to the intact skull with no craniotomy, for recordings held for weeks to months.
Both sit outside the brain; skull and scalp spread the signal, so what they record is rhythms and state rather than local circuit activity.
The choice is channel count against surgery. A screw electrode gives one channel per screw, each placed by hand, so two to four channels is the practical limit and a connectivity claim between regions is out of reach. A thin-film grid lays 16 to 32 sites on one film with a crosshair that is aligned to bregma, so every site lands on the same region in every animal and the array is placed in one step; bone screws remain, as anchors and as ground and reference. Wireless headmounts remove the tether and most carry a few channels; a grid is tethered through a 32-channel headstage and records awake, freely moving mice. Where a result needs fine spatial resolution, an ECoG grid on the cortex records more, at the cost of a craniotomy.
NeuroNexus makes the grid: the mouse layouts of the EEG Series, 16, 30 and 32 sites of 500 µm, on 7, 8 or 10 mm cables to an H32 Hybrid package. Representative examples include the 30-channel mouse EEG technique of Jonak et al. (2018), the Fragile X biomarker studies of Jonak et al. (2020) and Jonak et al. (2024), and the rat study in Skull-Surface EEG in Rats with a Thin-Film Grid; the electrode decision is worked through in EEG Recording in Mice: Electrode Options, the implant in the EEG surgical guide, and the montage in EEG Referencing. Research use only.
Typical values
| Mouse layouts in the catalog | 16, 30 and 32 sites |
|---|---|
| Site | 500 µm platinum disc |
| Substrate | 12 µm polyimide |
| Placement | skull surface, crosshair aligned to bregma, no craniotomy |
| Cable | 7, 8 or 10 mm to the package |
| Package | H32 Hybrid (Omnetics), 32 channels |
References
- Jonak et al., 2018 — Reusable multielectrode array technique for electroencephalography in awake freely moving mice. Front Integr Neurosci 12, 53
- Jonak et al., 2020 — Multielectrode array analysis of EEG biomarkers in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome. Neurobiol Dis 138, 104794
- Jonak et al., 2024 — Phenotypic analysis of multielectrode array EEG biomarkers in developing and adult male Fmr1 KO mice. Neurobiol Dis 195, 106496
Related Terms
Cite this term
NeuroNexus. "Mouse EEG Electrode." NeuroNexus Glossary, updated 2026-10-28. https://www.neuronexus.com/resources/glossary/mouse-eeg-electrode