3: Fundamental Neuroscience Techniques
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- 3.1: – in vitro Neuronal Models
- A variety of in vitro models can be used to examine circuits as well as to test many of the techniques mentioned in this unit and to help understand development of the nervous system. Often these in vitro models have been developed to provide a simplified understanding of the much more complex in vivo condition. These reduced complexity models allow for a simplified approach to studying key neuronal processes on both the cellular and molecular level.
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- 3.2: Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology
- The most common method used to assess ion-channel function is known as the patch-clamp electrophysiological technique that was developed in the 1970s by Nobel Prize Laureates Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann. The patch-clamp technique allows a researcher to measure the biophysical properties of ion-channels on millisecond timescales.
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- 3.3: Molecular toolbox – Neural Circuits (The Basics)
- Neurons don’t work in isolation and they typically make synaptic connections that resemble circuits. Most investigations of behavior and development have relied on mapping the neural circuits within the brain and CNS. Understanding the connectivity of these circuits allow neuroscientists to understand behavior and pathologies.