Assessing pharmacologically induced changes in spontaneous unit firing patterns in five regional rat brain slices using a planar micro-electrode array
J. Rossi, S.M. McInturf, F.J. McDougle, R.H. Casavant.
Society for Neuroscience, 920.9. (2004)
Neurobehavioral Effects Lab, NHRC/EHEL, Dayton, OH, USA
Coronal (400u) hippocampus, cerebellum, hypothalamus, septum and amygdala slices were taken from the brains of juvenile rats (15-25 days). Electrophysiological properties of the slices were evaluated using the Panasonic MED64 data acquisition system. Slices were applied to 64-electrode MED probes (50u spacing), and kept under continuous perfusion with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) [31 deg, 300 ul/min]. Following 1 hr acclimation, 18 min baseline data was recorded using Spike Recorder (Tensor Biosystems, Irvine CA) software. Pump supply lines were then switched to reservoirs containing either 2.5, 5, or 10 mMol concentrations of caffeine. Following dead volume clearance, 18 min drug perfusion data was recorded. Dose response increases in both spike frequency and amplitude were observed in dentate gyrus of hippocampus (spike rate .2-.7 spikes/sec, amplitudes 0 - 25%) with the high dose producing high-amplitude synchronous bursting. Similar observations were recorded for cerebellum. No changes in unit responding were found for amygdala, hypothalamus or septum slices.
Support Contributed By: Office of Naval Research
