Research Spotlight: Sensapex Multiprobe Rig at the Finkelstein Lab, Tel Aviv University

Where Precision Engineering Meets Cutting-Edge Neuroscience

At the Finkelstein Lab in Tel Aviv University's School of Medicine, understanding how the brain makes decisions and forms memories demands tools that can match the complexity of the questions being asked. That's why the lab has integrated the Sensapex Multiprobe Rig — a modular, high-precision electrophysiology system — into their in vivo recording workflow.

The Sensapex Multiprobe Rig

The Sensapex Multiprobe Rig is a spherical-coordinate-based recording platform that allows researchers to simultaneously position and drive multiple silicon probes into the living brain with nanometer-level accuracy. Its modular ring-and-arm architecture supports probes from leading manufacturers including Neuropixels and Neuronexus, and is engineered to scale up to dozens of simultaneous insertion sites.

At the heart of the system are the uMp-3NP three-axis micromanipulators, offering a 5 nm resolution and a 20 mm travel range per axis. Probe insertion speeds can be dialed down to just 1 µm per second — slow enough to preserve tissue integrity and maximize the number of well-isolated recording units. The uMp-TSC touchscreen controller provides a standalone interface for managing probe selection, insertion depth, and movement direction, with no additional PC required.

A standout feature is the rig's native integration with Pinpoint, an open-source brain atlas trajectory planning tool. Researchers can plan, visualize, and share multi-probe insertion strategies before the experiment begins — and Pinpoint can even automate the final insertion sequence directly through the manipulators.

Dr. Arseny Finkelstein's Lab: Decoding the Neural Basis of Cognition

Dr. Arseny Finkelstein is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine. His lab is focused on a central question in systems neuroscience: how do the collective dynamics of neural networks give rise to cognitive abilities such as working memory, decision-making, and spatial navigation?

Working with mice performing cognitively demanding behavioral tasks, the lab combines large-scale electrophysiology, two-photon imaging, and optogenetics to both record and manipulate neural activity with circuit-level precision. In a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience, the lab demonstrated how attractor dynamics in motor cortex progressively shield decision-encoding activity from distracting sensory inputs — findings that required tracking signals across multiple cortical areas simultaneously.

It is precisely this kind of multi-region, high-channel-count recording challenge that makes the Sensapex Multiprobe Rig a natural fit for the lab's experimental demands.

Supporting Israeli Neuroscience Research

The adoption of the Sensapex system at one of Israel's leading neuroscience labs reflects a broader momentum in the field: as research questions grow more ambitious — spanning multiple brain regions, behavioral conditions, and neural timescales — the instrumentation must rise to match. We are proud to support this work and look forward to sharing more from the frontlines of Israeli brain research.