Live imaging of adult neural stem cells in freely behaving mice using mini-endoscopes

Summary During adulthood, the activation of adult neural stem cells (NSCs) has been mostly studied ex vivo in post-mortem tissues or in vivo in anesthetized animals. This protocol presents an approach that allows for the long-term and minimally invasive investigation of adult NSC activation and physiology in freely behaving animals. By combining specific NSC labeling and mini-endoscopic microscopy, live imaging of NSC division and Ca2+ activity can be performed continuously for 2–3 days and even up to several months. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Gengatharan et al. (2021) .