L12 - studying electrical activity in the brain

Question 1

what is single cell electrophysiology aka Single cell neurophysiology, Single unit recording?

Answer 1

Measures the response of a single neurone /cell using

Intracellular Recording: Recording from inside the axon.
or

Extracellular Recording: Recording from outside the cell membrane.

measured in spikes per second

Question 2

What are the 2 in vivo measurement?

Answer 2

Anaesthetised animals - surgery + experiments conducted under anesthesia

awake behaving animals - Animals undergo surgery under anesthesia to fix recording apparatus; after recovery, they are trained to perform tasks, and recordings are taken while they are awake

Question 3

what are the 3 R’s in ethical considerations?

Answer 3

Reduction - ensuring appropriate numbers of animals are used

Replacement - using the least sentient species possible

Refinement - improving experimental design

Question 4

What is the purpose of Electroencephalography (EEG)?

Answer 4

measures dendritic currents in neuronal populations

records electrical signals generated by the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp

it’s a non-invasive technique

Question 5

how do you code for an EEG electrode locations?

Answer 5

F (Frontal)
P (Parietal)
O (Occipital)
T (Temporal)
C (Central).

Left of midline: Odd numbers.

Right of midline: Even numbers.

Midline: ‘z’.

Question 6

What is event-related potential (ERP)

Answer 6

waveform plotted as electrode potential (microvolts) over time (millisecond)