Electrophysiological Recordings of Brainstem-Spinal Cord Preparations from a Newborn Rodent

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Rousseau, J., et al. Electrophysiology on Isolated Brainstem-spinal Cord Preparations from Newborn Rodents Allows Neural Respiratory Network Output Recording. J. Vis. Exp. (2015).

This video demonstrates electrophysiological recordings of isolated brainstem-spinal cord preparations from newborn rodents. The preparation is placed in a recording chamber, and the inspiratory bursts from the brainstem are recorded under oxygenated and oxygen-deprived conditions using the fourth ventral nerve root in the spinal cord.

Protocol

All procedures involving sample collection have been performed in accordance with the institute's IRB guidelines.

1. Setup and Preparation

Solutions
1. Prepare artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) stock solutions according to the following recipes. Other recipes with concentration variations are available in the literature. Store stock solutions at 4 °C for up to one month.
  1. Salt solution: add 75.39 g of NaCl (129 mM final); 2.5 g of KCl (3.35 mM final); 0.81 g of NaH₂PO4 (0.58 mM final); 2.33 g of MgCl₂ (1.15 mM final); 1.85 g of CaCl₂

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Results

Neuroscience experiment diagram; CSF flow setup; data acquisition through electrodes.
Figure 1. Recapitulative Schema of the Setup. The bubbled aCSF is warmed and sent by a pump in the recording chamber. aCSF excess in the recording chamber is aspirated by a pump and disposed of. The recording chamber is linked to the ground and the temperature control.......