Extracellular and intracellular recordings

Abstract

In 1766, Luigi Galvani discovered that electrical activity drove nerve function. His discovery pioneered contemporary electrophysiology, which now consists of extracellular and intracellular approaches used to study electrical signal transfer among neurons. Each approach has advantages/disadvantages and useful applications that once understood can greatly benefit an experimenter looking to design the appropriate experiments. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with core understanding for each approach focusing on in vitro applications (in vivo electrophysiology is covered in Chap. 22)