Neuroscinece Techniques Flashcards
How can intracellular recordings be extended?
By injecting a dye which is visible by light microscopy
What axon was voltage clamp first used on?
Giant squid axon
How can you measure the potential difference between the inside and the outside of the cell?
Use electrodes inside and outside
What recording technique involves sections and a seal of a glass electron?
Patch-clamp
What is patch-clamp recording useful for?
Small neurones
What is the technique of controlling the membrane potential across the cell membrane called?
Voltage clamp
What is two electrode voltage clamp useful for?
For large cells (the brain is too small)
What are the two methods of recording changes in the membrane
potential?
Extracellular and intracellular
Give the six possible preparations?
Single cell, brain or spinal chord slices, large in vitro, intact nerve, invertebrate and in vivo.
What are intracellular recordings useful for?
Measuring resting potentials, action potential firing rates and synaptic potentials.
Why are xenopus oocytes useful?
They can be injected with mRNA and synthesise a particular ion channel. This can be used to identify mutations which cause disease.
What do recordings tell us?
Activity in vito and in vitro, the role and properties of neurones, about conditions and possible treatments.
What does extracellular recodings do?
Records voltage from the outside of the cell, useful in measuring synaptic potentials from large populations
Give the recording techniques?
Patch-clamp, voltage-clamp, single channel, whole-cell patch clamp, 2 electrode voltage-clamp
What does voltage clamp measure?
Changes in current = conductance
