Brain research. Brain research protocols
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Brain Res. Brain Res. Protoc. · Feb 2000
Exchange transfusion with fluorocarbon for studying synaptically evoked optical signal in rat cortex.
Optical imaging of intrinsic signal is a powerful technique for studying the functional organization of the brain [T. Bonhoeffer, D. S. ⋯ Blood Flow Metab. 8 (1988) 163-172] [6] [23]. Here we describe a new method of the reduction of hemoglobin signal from somatosensory evoked optical intrinsic signal in rat cortex by the combination of exchange transfusion with fluorocarbon and imaging system of thinned skull cranial window. The method allows for the study of the synaptically evoked changes in light scattering as well as fluorescence of calcium indicator or voltage-sensitive dye without absorption of hemoglobin.
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Brain Res. Brain Res. Protoc. · Dec 1997
Design and construction of a long-term continuous video-EEG monitoring unit for simultaneous recording of multiple small animals.
In recent years several new rat models of human limbic/mesial temporal lobe epilepsy have been described [1,2,4-7,11,15-17]. Unlike earlier models such as kindling in which the seizures are induced by an exogenous stimulus, these new models are characterized by seizures that occur spontaneously at random intervals. Although the spontaneity of the seizures makes these models more like human epilepsy, documentation of these seizures by direct observation is highly inefficient, and sub-behavioral electrographic seizures could be missed. ⋯ During data review it is necessary to differentiate between electrical artifact induced by animal activity from true seizure activity by key EEG patterns. Certain seizure patterns (less than 3 hz. low amplitude) will not be detected by the seizure detection program, but the system is highly effective for typical limbic seizures and may be useful for the animal models of absence epilepsy [12,14]. It can also be used as a continuous or intermittent EEG/physiological recording device for experiments that examine animals' spontaneous behavior and the EEG correlate (e.g. sleep/wake cycles, learning and memory tasks).