Striatal Slices
Striatal Slices - Related Videos
08:49
Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics in Striatal Brain Slices with Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry
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Cited by 18 •
2012
Using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure electrically evoked presynaptic dopamine dynamics in striatal brain slices.
07:41
Measurement of Oxygen Consumption Rate in Acute Striatal Slices from Adult Mice
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Cited by 3 •
2022
Oxygen consumption rate (OCR) is a common proxy for mitochondrial function and can be used to study different disease models. We developed a new method using a Seahorse XF analyzer to directly measure the OCR in acute striatal slices from adult mice that is more physiologically relevant than other methods.
02:14
Electrophysiological Recordings of Reprogrammed Neurons in a Mouse Brain Slice
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2025
This video demonstrates a protocol to evaluate the maturation and reprogramming of glial cells into neurons in a transfected mouse striatum slice. The experiment measures resting membrane potential and response to current injections using neuron-specific fluorescent markers and electrophysiological techniques. Voltage spikes during these measurements indicate successful neuronal maturation and reprogramming.
05:02
Cerebellum Dissection and Slice Preparation: A Method to Generate Tissue Slices from Mouse Cerebellum
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2025
This video describes a method to generate tissue slices from the mouse cerebellum. The cerebellar slices can be used for organotypic culturing that provides insights into neurodevelopmental mechanisms, including myelination dynamics.
08:20
Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures
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Cited by 52 •
2011
We describe a method to prepare organotypic hippocampal slices that can be easily adapted to other brain regions. Brain slices are laid on porous membranes and culture media is allowed to form an interface. This method preserves the gross architecture of the hippocampus for up to 2 weeks in culture.
FAQs
Viability depends on maintaining the tissue in oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal fluid, or ACSF, which provides the controlled bathing environment needed for ex vivo experiments. Because local cellular connections remain available, investigators can manipulate conditions while monitoring electrical activity or synaptic transmission. This control helps separate circuit responses from broader influences present in an intact animal.
Acute and maintained preparations serve different experimental needs. Acute slices provide a short-term preparation for recording activity and synaptic responses, whereas maintained tissue supports experiments in which the slice remains viable for continued observation. The choice therefore depends on whether a study emphasizes immediate circuit measurements or experiments requiring ongoing tissue maintenance.
Pharmacological manipulation and electrophysiology answer complementary questions in the same preparation. Drugs can alter signaling conditions, while electrical recordings reveal changes in neuronal activity or synaptic transmission. Together, these approaches connect a defined intervention to circuit-level effects, making striatal slices useful for testing mechanisms involving dopamine and glutamate signaling.
Working with striatal slices begins by preparing thin sections and transferring them into oxygenated ACSF. Researchers then maintain the tissue under conditions that preserve viability before applying stimulation, recording electrical activity, or measuring synaptic transmission. This workflow creates a controlled sequence from tissue preparation to functional assessment without requiring an intact-animal experiment.
Recordings can show how stimulation changes electrical activity and synaptic transmission within preserved local connections. When pharmacological agents are added, researchers can compare responses under altered signaling conditions. These measurements provide functional evidence for circuit mechanisms, allowing investigators to evaluate how the striatal network responds rather than merely identifying which signals are present.
Within neuroscience, this preparation is useful for examining dopamine and glutamate signaling, synaptic plasticity, motor control, and reward. Its value comes from combining local circuit preservation with experimental control: investigators can test how defined manipulations affect transmission and activity. The resulting observations help relate cellular signaling to striatal functions studied in broader neural systems.
Striatal slices provide a controlled platform for disease-oriented studies, including work on Parkinson’s disease and addiction. Researchers can assess how altered dopamine or glutamate-related signaling influences local transmission and electrical responses, then relate those effects to motor or reward-related circuitry. The preparation does not reproduce the whole organism, but it enables focused analysis of underlying circuit mechanisms.