Neuropixel and contact based lick detection

[HMC123-puxel]

Hi all,
I’m running pyControl behavior while doing chronic Neuropixels recordings in freely moving mice. I currently have the pyControl contact-based lickometer and I’m worried about electrical coupling / lick-synchronous artifacts in the neural data.
I contacted pyControl support and they confirmed they don’t offer an optical/IR lick detector for pyControl. They suggested looking at the Harp device family, but (at least the Harp Mice Poke + valve module they mentioned) also doesn’t include lick detection.
A few questions:
For Neuropixels + pyControl, what’s the recommended lick detection approach to minimize artifacts?
If I use a 3rd-party optical/IR lick detector (beam break at the spout) and feed its TTL output into a pyControl digital input:
Is there a preferred wiring pattern (pull-up, Schmitt trigger/comparator, etc.)?
Any recommended sensor models / circuit examples that people have used successfully?
Regarding Harp: is it intended as a replacement for pyControl, or can it be used as a peripheral while keeping pyControl for task logic?
If I did adopt Harp for parts of the setup, would I have to use Bonsai, or can Harp be integrated without Bonsai in a pyControl-centered workflow?
Thanks a lot — happy to share details of my grounding/reference scheme and the artifacts I’m seeing if that helps.

[ThomasAkam]

Hi @HMC123-puxel,

One option to create an IR beam lickometer would be to buy a pyControl poke board from OEPS or Labmaker, then cut the legs of the IR components, mount them where you need them for the lickometer, and reconnect them to the poke board with wires.

Alternatively you could recreate the same circuit used for the IR beam on the poke from components, see the schematic and BOM file in the hardware repository.

Thomas