Dataset Information

Recording from defined populations of retinal ganglion cells using a high-density CMOS-integrated microelectrode array with real-time switchable electrode selection.

ABSTRACT: In order to understand how retinal circuits encode visual scenes, the neural activity of defined populations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) has to be investigated. Here we report on a method for stimulating, detecting, and subsequently targeting defined populations of RGCs. The possibility to select a distinct population of RGCs for extracellular recording enables the design of experiments that can increase our understanding of how these neurons extract precise spatio-temporal features from the visual scene, and how the brain interprets retinal signals. We used light stimulation to elicit a response from physiologically distinct types of RGCs and then utilized the dynamic-configurability capabilities of a microelectronics-based high-density microelectrode array (MEA) to record their synchronous action potentials. The layout characteristics of the MEA made it possible to stimulate and record from multiple, highly overlapping RGCs simultaneously without light-induced artifacts. The high-density of electrodes and the high signal-to-noise ratio of the MEA circuitry allowed for recording of the activity of each RGC on 14±7 electrodes. The spatial features of the electrical activity of each RGC greatly facilitated spike sorting. We were thus able to localize, identify and record from defined RGCs within a region of mouse retina. In addition, we stimulated and recorded from genetically modified RGCs to demonstrate the applicability of optogenetic methods, which introduces an additional feature to target a defined cell type. The developed methodologies can likewise be applied to other neuronal preparations including brain slices or cultured neurons.

SUBMITTER: Fiscella M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5419501 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Recording from defined populations of retinal ganglion cells using a high-density CMOS-integrated microelectrode array with real-time switchable electrode selection.

Fiscella Michele M Farrow Karl K Jones Ian L IL Jäckel David D Müller Jan J Frey Urs U Bakkum Douglas J DJ Hantz Péter P Roska Botond B Hierlemann Andreas A

Journal of neuroscience methods 20120823 1

In order to understand how retinal circuits encode visual scenes, the neural activity of defined populations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) has to be investigated. Here we report on a method for stimulating, detecting, and subsequently targeting defined populations of RGCs. The possibility to select a distinct population of RGCs for extracellular recording enables the design of experiments that can increase our understanding of how these neurons extract precise spatio-temporal features from th ...[more]

PMID: 22939921

Similar Datasets

Project description:Multi-electrode arrays, both active or passive, emerged as ideal technologies to unveil intricated electrophysiological dynamics of cells and tissues. Active MEAs, designed using complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology (CMOS), stand over passive devices thanks to the possibility of achieving single-cell resolution, the reduced electrode size, the reduced crosstalk and the higher functionality and portability. Nevertheless, most of the reported CMOS MEA systems mainly rely on a single operational modality, which strongly hampers the applicability range of a single device. This can be a limiting factor considering that most biological and electrophysiological dynamics are often based on the synergy of multiple and complex mechanisms acting from different angles on the same phenomena. Here, we designed a CMOS MEA chip with 16,384 titanium nitride electrodes, 6 independent operational modalities and 1,024 parallel recording channels for neuro-electrophysiological studies. Sixteen independent active areas are patterned on the chip surface forming a 4 × 4 matrix, each one including 1,024 electrodes. Electrodes of four different sizes are present on the chip surface, ranging from 2.5 × 3.5 μm2 up to 11 × 11.0 μm2, with 15 μm pitch. In this paper, we exploited the impedance monitoring and voltage recording modalities not only to monitor the growth and development of primary rat hippocampal neurons, but also to assess their electrophysiological activity over time showing a mean spike amplitude of 144.8 ± 84.6 μV. Fixed frequency (1 kHz) and high sampling rate (30 kHz) impedance measurements were used to evaluate the cellular adhesion and growth on the chip surface. Thanks to the high-density configuration of the electrodes, as well as their dimension and pitch, the chip can appreciate the evolutions of the cell culture morphology starting from the moment of the seeding up to mature culture conditions. The measurements were confirmed by fluorescent staining. The effect of the different electrode sizes on the spike amplitudes and noise were also discussed. The multi-modality of the presented CMOS MEA allows for the simultaneous assessment of different physiological properties of the cultured neurons. Therefore, it can pave the way both to answer complex fundamental neuroscience questions as well as to aid the current drug-development paradigm.

Dataset Information

Recording from defined populations of retinal ganglion cells using a high-density CMOS-integrated microelectrode array with real-time switchable electrode selection.

Publications

Recording from defined populations of retinal ganglion cells using a high-density CMOS-integrated microelectrode array with real-time switchable electrode selection.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets