The electrophysiology setup

This unit describes components and considerations that are common to all electrophysiology setups dedicated to measurement of electrical activity in cells. First, the basic concerns of setting up the equipment in a functional and accessible manner are described. Then two typical setups are briefly described: one for in vitro extracellular recording, the other for single-channel patch-clamping. An electrophysiological setup has four main requirements: (1) environment: the means of keeping the preparation healthy; (2) optics: the means of visualizing the preparation; (3) mechanics: the means of stably positioning the microelectrode; and (4) electronics: the means of amplifying and recording the signal. This unit addresses primarily the mechanics and electronics of the electrophysiological laboratory setup.