Whole-Cell Recording In Vivo

At a procedural level, in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording is very similar to the in vitro technique (see UNITS 6.6, 6.7, & 6.10), though there are important differences. Unlike the typical in vitro recording situation for mammalian preparations, one cannot utilize Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) optics to visualize neurons or the recording electrode in vivo, nor can the experimenter control the content of the “external solution” bathing the cells in the intact animal. Moreover, in the intact animal, electrode penetrations cause much more pronounced compression, or dimpling, of the tissue as compared with slice recording. However, the most significant differences are due to the motion that one must contend with in the intact animal, resulting primarily from cardiac and pulmonary pulsations. This unit focuses on strategies for overcoming the specific technical challenges posed by in vivo whole-cell recording.