Dopamine is a critical modulator of brain circuits that control voluntary movements. However, its influence on the activity of target neurons in vivo remains limited. In this study, two-photon microscopy was used to monitor the activity of direct and indirect-pathway spiny projection neurons (SPNs) simultaneously in the striatum of behaving mice. The striatum mainly consists of two large populations of inhibitory SPNs that belong to the direct and indirect pathways, dSPNs and iSPNs.

This study monitored intracellular calcium signals in dSPNs and iSPNs simultaneously and examined changes in the size of SPN ensembles recruited during a low-dimensional locomotor behavior. The dataset contains imaging and behavioral data. This includes data about simultaneous calcium imaging from dSPNs and iSPNs, striatal activity imaging, calcium signals in dSPNs, iSPNs, and interneurons, dSPNs and iSPNs activity during forward locomotion, and the size of SPN ensembles.