Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Reproducibility of in vivo electrophysiological measurements in mice

Published ineLife, vol. 13, RP100840
First online date2025-05-12
Abstract

Understanding brain function relies on the collective work of many labs generating reproducible results. However, reproducibility has not been systematically assessed within the context of electrophysiological recordings during cognitive behaviors. To address this, we formed a multi-lab collaboration using a shared, open-source behavioral task and experimental apparatus. Experimenters in 10 laboratories repeatedly targeted Neuropixels probes to the same location (spanning secondary visual areas, hippocampus, and thalamus) in mice making decisions; this generated a total of 121 experimental replicates, a unique dataset for evaluating reproducibility of electrophysiology experiments. Despite standardizing both behavioral and electrophysiological procedures, some experimental outcomes were highly variable. A closer analysis uncovered that variability in electrode targeting hindered reproducibility, as did the limited statistical power of some routinely used electrophysiological analyses, such as single-neuron tests of modulation by individual task parameters. Reproducibility was enhanced by histological and electrophysiological quality-control criteria. Our observations suggest that data from systems neuroscience is vulnerable to a lack of reproducibility, but that across-lab standardization, including metrics we propose, can serve to mitigate this.

Keywords
  • Decision-making
  • Electrophsyiology
  • Mouse
  • Neuropixels
  • Neuroscience
  • Open science
  • Reproducibility
  • Vision
Funding
  • Simons Foundation [Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain]
  • Wellcome Trust [10.35802/216324]
  • National Institutes of Health [U19NS123716]
  • Wellcome Trust [10.35802/209558]
  • National Institutes of Health [1F32MH123010]
  • NIMH NIH HHS [F32 MH123010]
  • NINDS NIH HHS [U19 NS123716]
Citation (ISO format)
BANGA, Kush et al. Reproducibility of in vivo electrophysiological measurements in mice. In: eLife, 2025, vol. 13, p. RP100840. doi: 10.7554/eLife.100840
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Additional URL for this publicationhttps://elifesciences.org/articles/100840
Journal ISSN2050-084X
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