Vibratome Brain Slices
Vibratome Brain Slices - Related Videos
04:58
Generation of Porcine Ventricular Slices: A Vibratome-based Technique to Prepare Ultra-thin Slices of Pig Heart Tissue
0 Views •
2025
This video demonstrates a vibratome-based procedure to generate viable, ultra-thin sections of pig heart. The prepared tissue slices can be cultured and used as model systems for pharmacological testing.
11:13
Ex Vivo Optogenetic Dissection of Fear Circuits in Brain Slices
0 Views •
Cited by 8 •
2016
Optogenetic approaches are widely used to manipulate neural activity and assess the consequences for brain function. Here, a technique is outlined that upon in vivo expression of the optical activator Channelrhodopsin, allows for ex vivo analysis of synaptic properties of specific long range and local neural connections in fear-related circuits.
02:55
Obtaining Horizontal Mouse Hippocampal Brain Slices
0 Views •
2025
This video demonstrates a detailed protocol for preparing horizontal hippocampal brain slices from mice, focusing on preserving the integrity of hippocampal fiber pathways. The process involves carefully bisecting and securing the brain, using a vibratome for slicing, and maintaining optimal tissue conditions with a carbogenated fluid, resulting in hippocampal brain slices ready for further experimentation.
02:32
Generation of Tilted Amygdala Slices from a Mouse Brain
0 Views •
2025
The video demonstrates the generation of tilted amygdala slices from a mouse brain. The brain is positioned at an angle on the vibratome specimen stage to obtain slices containing the amygdala and axons from the medial prefrontal cortex that form synaptic connections with the amygdala. The brain slices are maintained at the physiological temperature to preserve the tissue for further experiments.
03:47
Preparation of Colliculo-Thalamocortical Slices from a Mouse Pup Brain
0 Views •
2025
The video demonstrates the preparation of colliculo-thalamocortical brain slices from mouse pup brains. An isolated brain is aligned on a marked slide and cut at an angle to align the auditory midbrain and forebrain in the same plane. The brain is then sliced using a vibratome, and the slices containing the major auditory midbrain and forebrain structures are transferred to a holding chamber for preservation.
FAQs
The blade’s vibration allows it to advance through tissue with less compression and distortion than conventional cutting. That mechanical advantage helps retain local brain architecture within each section, so relationships among neural structures remain available for examination. Preserving this organization is especially valuable when experiments address connectivity or circuit-level features rather than isolated cells.
Submerging the tissue in chilled buffer establishes the cutting environment for both fixed and living preparations. The buffer supports immersion as the vibrating blade moves through the sample, while chilling is part of the stated slicing conditions. Maintaining these conditions makes it possible to generate sections suited to subsequent structural, functional, or labeling-based analyses.
Using fixed or living tissue gives the method flexibility across experimental goals. Sections from these preparation types can be directed toward structural examination, functional measurements, or labeling-based analyses, including histology, electrophysiology, fluorescence imaging, and immunohistochemistry. The tissue state can therefore be selected according to which properties researchers need to investigate after sectioning.
To produce a section, researchers place brain tissue in chilled buffer and advance a vibrating blade through the submerged sample. The instrument generates thin sections while limiting the compression associated with conventional cutting. Afterward, the slices can be used in imaging, electrophysiological, histological, or immunohistochemical workflows, depending on the study.
Vibratome brain slices support several complementary readouts. Electrophysiology examines neural function, fluorescence imaging visualizes labeled features, and histology or immunohistochemistry reveals tissue organization and selected biological markers. Because the same general preparation can support these different analyses, investigators can relate functional observations to anatomy and tissue-level patterns within a preserved local context.
They retain enough local tissue architecture to serve as an intermediate scale between the intact brain and cellular experiments. This makes them useful for examining synaptic activity, connectivity, development, and responses to injury or disease. The approach therefore links circuit organization with measurements made through imaging, electrophysiology, histology, or immunohistochemistry.