VISUALIZATION OF NEURONAL FORM AND FUNCTION IN BRAIN-SLICES BY INFRARED VIDEOMICROSCOPY

As a standard preparation for neurophysiological experiments, brain sl ices were introduced some 20 years ago. Although this technique has gr eatly advanced our understanding of brain physiology, the utility of t his preparation has been limited to some extent by the difficulty of v isualizing individual neurons in standard thick slices. The use of inf rared videomicroscopy has solved this problem. It is now possible to v isualize neurons in slices in great detail, and neuronal processes can be patch-clamped under visual control. Infrared videomicroscopy has a lso been applied successfully to other fields of neuroscience, such as neuronal development and neurotoxicity. A further development of infr ared videomicroscopy allows the visualization of the spread of excitat ion in slices, making the technique a tool for investigating neuronal function and the pharmacology of synaptic transmission. (C) 1998 Chapm an & Hall.