Optogenetic Activation of Afferent Pathways in Brain Slices and Modulation of Responses by Volatile Anesthetics.

ABSTRACT: Anesthetics influence consciousness in part via their actions on thalamocortical circuits. However, the extent to which volatile anesthetics affect distinct cellular and network components of these circuits remains unclear. Ex vivo brain slices provide a means by which investigators may probe discrete components of complex networks and disentangle potential mechanisms underlying the effects of volatile anesthetics on evoked responses. To isolate potential cell type- and pathway-specific drug effects in brain slices, investigators must be able to independently activate afferent fiber pathways, identify non-overlapping populations of cells, and apply volatile anesthetics to the tissue in aqueous solution. In this protocol, methods to measure optogenetically-evoked responses to two independen

SUBMITTER: Murphy CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8256698 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature