Using the in vitro Hippocampal Slice as a Model to Teach Methods in Neurophysiology
Avital Schurr, Benjamin M. Rigor in BRAIN SLICES in BASIC and CLINICAL RESEARCH, 2020
We found that sharp electrode, intracellular recording was not practical for our teaching laboratory. It required a significant degree of skill and was sensitive to variations in electrode configuration, micromanipulator drift, and small disturbances in mechanical stability. Thus, for studying the principles of intracellular recording, we developed a laboratory exercise using the “blind”, whole-cell patch-clamp technique.4 With this technique whole-cell recordings are relatively easy to achieve and to maintain (e.g., for an hour or more), the principles of “intracellular” recording can be studied equally as well as with sharp electrode recording, and there are the additional advantages of being able to rapidly alter the composition of the intracellular fluid and manipulate equilibrium potentials. We used a patch-clamp amplifier for this laboratory, although one can use a current-clamp amplifier if voltage clamping is not an objective of the exercise.
Technological Evolution of Wireless Neurochemical Sensing with Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry
Iniewski Krzysztof in Integrated Microsystems, 2017
Monitoring bioelectric and chemical signals provides a quantitative and reliable index of neural activity for assessing brain function. Perhaps the most widespread measurement modality for this purpose is electrophysiology, which monitors bioelectric signals. Several configurations are commonly used, including patch clamp [6], intracellular recording with a sharp microelectrode [7], and extracellular recording with saline-filled glass or metal microelectrodes [8]. In awake, behaving animals, the current state-of-the-art approach is a chronically implanted multiwire array electrode for high-density, simultaneous recording of extracellular action potentials or “units” across multiple experimental sessions [9]. Turnkey ensemble recording systems are now commercially available with hardwired (e.g., Plexon Inc.) and wireless (Triangle Biosystems Inc.) connections to the subject under investigation.
Recommendations for evaluation of bladder and bowel function in pre-clinical spinal cord injury research
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2020
Gregory M. Holmes, Charles H. Hubscher, Andrei Krassioukov, Lyn B. Jakeman, Naomi Kleitman
Additional electrophysiological techniques have been routinely employed in research and are readily adapted to neurogenic bladder and bowel studies. These approaches, however, require a substantially higher level of investment and training. Whole nerve recordings of the autonomic and somatic innervation of the bladder or distal gut, for example, provide quantitative evaluation of segmental afferent and efferent reflex circuits to the viscera (Tables 2 & 3). Intracellular recording in smooth muscle cells for enteric nervous system-mediated junction potentials yields insights to the enteric neurons comprising the final common pathway of smooth muscle contraction.98,130,131 Though less common, studies have employed similar recording techniques for the unique electrical activity of bladder smooth muscle cells.174,175
Abnormal larval neuromuscular junction morphology and physiology in Drosophila prickle isoform mutants with known axonal transport defects and adult seizure behavior
Published in Journal of Neurogenetics, 2022
Atsushi Ueda, Tristan C. D. G. O’Harrow, Xiaomin Xing, Salleh Ehaideb, J. Robert Manak, Chun-Fang Wu
In the larval NMJ preparation, we were able to examine several physiological parameters that determine the amplitude and time course of synaptic transmission. We investigated the efficacy of synaptic transmission triggered by nerve action potentials with intracellular recording of postsynaptic EJPs, the muscle whole-cell response to transmitter release from the synaptic terminal arbors. In the same recording configuration, we also collected miniature EJPs (mEJPs) caused by the spontaneous release of synaptic vesicles. We did not detect significant differences in either mEJP amplitude or frequency among different combinations of pk and sple alleles, except for the reduction of mEJP frequency in pk/+ with 5% significance level (Figure 2(A,B), Table 1). Further, the postsynaptic muscle resting potentials were normal throughout the different genotypes (Table 1), suggesting no changes from WT in the driving force for mEJPs and EJPs.
The Value of Patient Perspectives in an Ethical Analysis of Recruitment and Consent for Intracranial Electrophysiology Research
Published in AJOB Neuroscience, 2021
Jordan P. Richardson, Irena Balzekas, Brian Nils Lundstrom, Gregory A. Worrell, Richard R. Sharp
An important benefit of patient engagement is that it can confirm, contradict, or clarify ethical issues identified by investigators or bioethicists. Investigators and patients often have differing perspectives on research processes (Smith et al. 2015). Mergenthaler and colleagues report that investigator concerns include worries about patient desperation and potential coercion. Determining for whom these concerns are true, and under what circumstances, will require a parallel, patient-focused empirical bioethics study focused on patient perspectives. Previous studies investigating patient perceptions of informed consent in high-stakes neurological research have shown that participants felt their participation was free of coercion, but that they often had low recall of the risks discussed in the consent process relative to the benefits (Krupp et al. 2000; Knifed et al. 2008). An empirical bioethics study with invasive electrophysiology research participants could reveal how this population perceives coercion or risk, and illuminate which aspects of the consent process require greater ethical scrutiny. Mergenthaler and colleagues also report significant variation in the recruitment and consent approaches taken by investigators. A case-based study where various approaches are evaluated by patients may provide critical insights into which approaches are most effective and for whom. Patient-driven approaches can inform an ethical standard or support the modification of such a standard to the unique needs of a specific population or subgroup of patients.
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