Innovative Methodology An inexpensive drivable cannulated microelectrode array for simultaneous unit recording and drug infusion in the same brain nucleus of behaving rats

du Hoffmann J, Kim JJ, Nicola SM. An inexpensive drivable cannulated microelectrode array for simultaneous unit recording and drug infusion in the same brain nucleus of behaving rats. J Neurophysiol 106: 1054–1064, 2011. First published May 25, 2011; doi:10.1152/jn.00349.2011.—Neurons are functionally segregated into discrete populations that perform specific computations. These computations, mediated by neuron-neuron electrochemical signaling, form the neural basis of behavior. Thus fundamental to a brain-based understanding of behavior is the precise determination of the contribution made by specific neurotransmitters to behaviorally relevant neural activity. To facilitate this understanding, we have developed a cannulated microelectrode array for use in behaving rats that enables simultaneous neural ensemble recordings and local infusion of drugs in the same brain nucleus. The system is inexpensive, easy to use, and produces robust and quantitatively reproducible drug effects on recorded neurons.