Introduction to In Vivo Voltammetry

Abstract

Voltammetry, a well-characterized electroanalytical technique, has recently been shown to be useful for studying the chemistry of the brain. In particular, the easily oxidizable catecholamine and indoleamine neurotransmitters, metabolites, and related compounds can be studied with this technique. Since the original report from the laboratory of R. N. Adams (Kissinger et al., 1973), more than 150 papers have been published on in vivo voltammetry and its application to the study of monoamines in the various points of view (Adams, 1976; 1978; Adams and Marsden, 1982; Hutson and Curzon, 1983; Marsden et al., 1984; Justice et al., 1985). In this introduction chapter, the theory methods, instrumentation, and interpretation of in vivo voltammetric data are discussed in a tutorial fashion in order to provide the reader with a basis for understanding the chapters that follow. Electrochemists will for obvious reasons not find an extensive treatment of voltammetry, nor will pharmacologists, neuro-chemists, and other neuroscientists find a surfeit of detail about the functioning of the central nervous system. Rather, it is hoped that the chapter will introduce the methods and concepts of voltammetry to those who may find it useful in their research on the central nervous system. Additionally, this chapter and the other chapters in the volume should provide an appreciation of some of the goals of in vivo voltammetry to electrochemists so they may become interested in contributing to the considerable work remaining to be done in developing voltammetry in vivo.