Recording neural activities over large populations is critical for a better understanding of the functional mechanisms of animal brains. Traditional optical imaging technologies for in vivo neural activity recording are usually limited in throughput and cannot cover a large imaging volume at high speed. Light-field microscopy features a highly parallelized imaging collection mechanism and can simultaneously record optical signals from different depths. Therefore, it can potentially increase the imaging throughput substantially. Furthermore, its unique instantaneous volumetric imaging capability enables the capture of highly dynamic processes, such as recording whole-animal neural activities in freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans and whole-brain neural activity in freely swimming larval zebrafish during prey capture. Here, we summarize the principles of and considerations in the practical implementation of light-field microscopy as currently applied in biological imaging experiments. We also discuss the strategies that light-field microscopy can employ when imaging thick tissues in the presence of scattering and background interference. Finally, we present a few examples of applying light-field microscopy in neuroscientific studies in several important animal models.

记录大量种群的神经活动对于更好地了解动物大脑的功能机制至关重要。用于体内神经活动记录的传统光学成像技术通常在吞吐量上受到限制，并且无法高速覆盖大成像量。光场显微镜具有高度并行的成像收集机制，可以同时记录来自不同深度的光信号。因此，它可以潜在地显着提高成像吞吐量。此外，其独特的瞬时体积成像功能可捕获高度动态的过程，例如在自由移动的秀丽隐杆线虫中记录整个动物的神经活动捕食期间自由游泳的幼虫斑马鱼的全脑神经活动。在这里，我们总结了当前在生物成像实验中应用的光场显微镜的实际实现中的原理和考虑因素。我们还讨论了在存在散射和背景干扰的情况下对厚组织成像时光场显微镜可以采用的策略。最后，我们提供一些在一些重要动物模型的神经科学研究中应用光场显微镜的例子。