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Living Human Brain Slices: Network Analysis Using Voltage-Sensitive Dyes

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Isolated Central Nervous System Circuits

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 73))

Abstract

The study of diseases of the nervous system relies heavily on the use of animal models which try to replicate the human condition via various methods. The underlying assumption is that the root causes of the impairment are similar in the animal model and the human patient, thus validating the findings in the animal model as relevant for the human condition. This assumption is difficult to verify, as experiments analogous to those being performed in the animal model obviously cannot be performed in humans. In severe cases of epilepsy and during treatment of brain tumors, surgical removal of diseased brain tissue is the last available option. The extracted tissue may be used to study the disease directly using in vitro methodology, circumventing the need for an animal model. During the surgical procedure, the epileptic “focus” is removed from the temporal lobe. The dissected tissue is usually composed of neocortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. This chapter describes the preparation of brain slices from the tissue excised during the surgery and the use of voltage-sensitive dyes to investigate network activity in the human brain slices.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Tilman Broicher

  2. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Institut für Physiologie I, Münster, Germany

    Erwin-Josef Speckmann

Authors
  1. Tilman Broicher
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  2. Erwin-Josef Speckmann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erwin-Josef Speckmann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Department of Physiology and Centre for, University of Alberta, N/A 232D, Edmonton, T6G 2S2, Alberta, Canada

    Klaus Ballanyi

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Broicher, T., Speckmann, EJ. (2012). Living Human Brain Slices: Network Analysis Using Voltage-Sensitive Dyes. In: Ballanyi, K. (eds) Isolated Central Nervous System Circuits. Neuromethods, vol 73. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-020-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-020-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-019-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-020-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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