Autonomous head-mounted electrophysiology systems for freely behaving primates

Recent technological advances have led to new light-weight battery-operated systems for electrophysiology. Such systems are head mounted, run for days without experimenter intervention, and can record and stimulate from single or multiple electrodes implanted in a freely behaving primate. Here we discuss existing systems, studies that use them, and how they can augment traditional, physically restrained, ‘in-rig’ electrophysiology. With existing technical capabilities, these systems can acquire multiple signal classes, such as spikes, local field potential, and electromyography signals, and can stimulate based on real-time processing of recorded signals. Moving forward, this class of technologies, along with advances in neural signal processing and behavioral monitoring, have the potential to dramatically expand the scope and scale of electrophysiological studies.