Apparatus for recording in vivo extracellular neural activity in rodents

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Understanding the electrophysiological changes that occur in the brain during the rapid integration and storage of information is a critical challenge for behavioral neuroscientists. Given the invasive techniques typically needed to understand these changes, the rodent nervous system is commonly used as a model for such experiments. The equipment requested in the present application is highly specialized to allow for simultaneous stimulation and recording of neural activity from discrete brain areas of anesthetized rodents. Experiments performed with this equipment will provide important insights into how activity in specific areas affects processing in other anatomically interconnected areas. The equipment requested includes an instrument designed to secure an anesthetized rodent's head in a stable position and allow thin wires to be precisely directed at discrete brain areas. Neural activity in these areas can then be evoked by patterns of low intensity artificial stimulation and measured using an electrical amplifier. During physiological recordings, small volumes of pharmacological agents of interest can also be introduced into discrete brain areas to study the specific neurotransmitters and receptors underlying the observed effects. While this equipment has a broad range of applications in neuroscience, it will initially be used in experiments designed to address the mechanisms through which the exposure to acute stress alters the excitability of brain circuits critical for learning and memory. In parallel experiments, the importance of the mechanisms discovered will be tested in freely behaving rats for their relevance to learning and memory. It is expected that these experiments will have significant implications for understanding how experiential factors, such as acute stress, affect cognitive processes such as learning and memory in a range of mammalian species including humans.