Electrophysiological Recording for Study of Xenopus Retinotectal Circuitry

The innervation of the optic tectum of Xenopus by retinal ganglion cells controls visual information processing and behavioral output. Several indicators can be used to evaluate the functional inputs/outputs of tectal neurons, such as spontaneous activity, visually evoked currents, temporal receptive fields, and spatial receptive fields. Analysis of multiple functional properties in the same neurons allows increased understanding of mechanisms underlying visual system function and plasticity. Patch-clamp recordings combined with gene expression or morpholino-mediated knockdown techniques have been especially powerful in the study of specific genes during development and circuit function. The protocol described here provides instructions for performing in vivo electrophysiological recordings from individual tectal neurons to study retinotectal circuitry in the developing Xenopus tectum.