ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY - TUSM/T-NEMC CENTER FOR NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH

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Electrophysiological data are often considered the gold standard for demonstrating a causal relationship between cell/circuit physiology and behavior. Generating preliminary data is a daunting prospect, however, for an investigator who lacks the years of training necessary to produce a competent, independent electrophysiologist. Electrophysiological studies also require a considerable up-front investment in personnel and equipment, further discouraging investigators from entering the electrophysiological arena. When the EBC was first established, the electrophysiology community at Tufts was small (Cox and Dunlap being the only electrophysiologists on the faculty), yet there were significant numbers of faculty seeking to bring electrophysiological approaches to bear on their research projects. The EBC was, thus, established to promote more widespread use of electrophysiology in neuroscience research laboratories at Tufts. This mission has been realized more completely than we thought possible (see C5.2.3i for details). Tufts' electrophysiology community has changed dramatically since the CNR was established in 2003, in part due to the success of the EBC. Several investigators received their introduction to electrophysiology in the EBC. Remarkably, four of these (Feig, Galper, Jacob, Rios) now have students and/or fellows in their labs who independently perform such experiments on setups in their own labs or in the EBC. In addition, the recent Neuroscience Department expansion has further changed the demographics of CNR users. Electrophysiological recording is now key in the labs of Cox, Dunlap, Dulla, Feig, Galper, Haydon, Jacob, Maguire, Moss, Rios, and Trimmer. With this growth of the electrophysiology community, (i) the number of users needing access to EBC's existing setups is approaching a steady-state, (ii) the majority of EBC users are sufficiently trained to not only carry out their experiments independently, but to help train future lab personnel, and (iii) there is increasing demand for in vivo stimulation/recording as programs adopt a more behavioral focus. This evolution is driving changes in the EBC (described below) to allow us to continue to meet the electrophysiological needs of the Tufts neuroscience community.