Measurement of Sensory Nerve Activity from the Carotid Body

Carotid bodies are sensory organs for monitoring chemical composition of the arterial blood, especially the O₂ levels. Carotid bodies are located bilaterally at the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. Hypoxia increases sensory nerve activity of the carotid body, which is transmitted to the brainstem neurons triggering reflex stimulation of breathing and blood pressure. Measurement of action potentials from the carotid sinus nerve is a widely used approach for understanding the mechanisms of hypoxic sensing by the carotid body. Here, we describe the detailed methodology for recording action potential signals from the carotid sinus nerve from in vivo and ex vivo carotid bodies from rats.