Neuropixels
![A 4-shank Neuropixels 2.0 probe](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuropixels/sites/neuropixels/files/styles/xl_image/public/npix20.png?itok=cAz1BEBf)
To understand how the brain operates, we must measure the joint activity of a myriad individual neurons distributed across brain regions. Until recently, this has been impossible: recording methods could either resolve the activity of individual neurons or monitor multiple brain regions. In 2017, Neuropixels probes overcame this difficulty by distributing close to 1,000 sites over a narrow, one-centimeter shank. In the rodent brain, these sites record from hundreds of neurons distributed across brain regions.
The next generation of probes, Neuropixels 2.0, add extended capabilities to record from larger neuronal populations in small brains during free movement, while allowing experimenters to record from the same neurons for weeks or even months.
![Neuropixels probes](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuropixels/sites/neuropixels/files/styles/medium_image/public/neuropixels_1_and_2.png?itok=3FBGvCUK)
The 1.0 probes were funded by Wellcome Trust, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Allen Institute for Brain Science, and Gatsby Foundation. The 2.0 probes were funded by Wellcome Trust, NTNU, NERF, and Champalimaud Centre. The probes are available at cost price from neuropixels.org.