Neuropixels Large-Scale Recording

Yes. XDAQ runs Neuropixels 1.0 and 2.0 probes in its NP mode, with Kontex's acquisition software and its Open Ephys plugin; the XDAQ ONE+ takes up to four probes beside its passive channels. The Kontex NP Headstage connects the probe, and the Commutator PRO carries up to four Neuropixels ports for freely moving work.

No. Neuropixels probes are made and sold by imec. NeuroNexus offers the equipment and software a Neuropixels rig runs on: XDAQ acquisition, the Kontex NP Headstage, the Commutator PRO and Radiens. It also offers two alternatives to the probe: SiNAPS, the other active-pixel probe, and dense passive silicon probes.

Yes, two. SiNAPS is the other active-pixel probe: it digitizes on the shank and records every one of its 256 or 1,024 sites at once, where Neuropixels records 384 chosen from 960 to 5,120 sites (1,536 on the Quad Base). Dense passive silicon probes, such as Buzsáki and polytrode layouts, are functionally comparable for some applications and stimulate on the recording sites.

SiNAPS records every site at once, 1,024 on four or eight shanks, against 384 for Neuropixels 1.0 and 2.0 and 1,536 for the 2.0 Quad Base, which choose their channels from 960 to 5,120 sites. Both are 12-bit, except Neuropixels 1.0 at 10-bit, with comparable noise. Neuropixels has the thinner, 10 mm shank and samples at 30 kS/s against 20. Neither stimulates.

Not through the Neuropixels probe, which records only. Stimulation goes through a passive probe with stimulation-rated sites on an X-Series record-and-stimulate headstage. The Commutator PRO carries both on one torque-compensated joint, up to four Neuropixels ports and a passive probe at up to 64 record-and-stimulate channels, into XDAQ, so a freely moving animal is stimulated while Neuropixels records.

Every XDAQ has a Neuropixels mode. The XDAQ ONE+ takes up to four Neuropixels probes, 384 channels each, beside its passive channels; the CORE2 and ALL-IN-ONE record up to 1,024+ Neuropixels channels. XDAQ in NP mode runs on Kontex's acquisition software, which uses the Open Ephys plugin for the Neuropixels interface, and the Kontex NP Headstage connects Neuropixels 1.0 and 2.0 probes.

Yes. The Commutator PRO has up to four Neuropixels ports. A motor, driven by a gyroscope on the animal or a Hall sensor on the rotor, cancels the cable torque, so a freely moving animal supplies no force and the recording stays stable. Its HDMI port carries a passive probe at the same time, and an optional 5 mm passthrough carries a fiber or fluid line.

Yes, in beta. Videre's live recording monitor runs alongside the acquisition software and reads the recording as it is written, about 200 milliseconds behind, with no driver. It shows the data stream and its quality on the native Neuropixels probe model, with live spectral analysis, sorting and PSTH, so a problem shows during the session. It is part of Radiens Pro; on Neuropixels rigs it is in beta.

Yes. Radiens reads Neuropixels data natively and places every channel on a native Neuropixels probe model in space, with the same treatment for SiNAPS and NeuroNexus probes. Videre carries the recording from spike sorting, with curation and cluster-quality metrics, to LFP, spectral and field analysis, and exports NWB. Radiens Standard is free; Pro adds the sorting, curation and field analysis.