Electrophysiological Tests for Viability

Various criteria can be used to assess the viability or healthiness of brain slices. All are based on the view that the in vivo situation should be mimicked as closely as possible. Earlier studies employed metabolic tests, such as the ability to maintain high levels of energy-rich phosphates or to concentrate potassium from the bathing medium (Mcllwain and Rodnight, 1962 Frank, 1972). 

A cardinal sign of a lesser degree of trauma in hippocampal slices, especially in the CAl and dentate gyrus, is the appearance of multiple population spikes in response to weak afferent stimulation. Such conditions 

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