Slicing the Brain

Twelve to sixteen slices can be prepared in this way from a single hippocampus. The accumulated slices are transferred gently to the experimental recording chamber with a wide-bore glass tube and suction bulb. 

The whole procedure, from the time the animals brain is removed until the time the slices are placed in ACSF, usually requires 2.5—5 min. However, the timing does not appear to be crucial since viable slices can also be obtained from the hippocampus in the second half of the brain, some 5-7 min after the first set of slices are prepared. When judged by the quality of intracellular and extracellular responses obtained from pyramidal cells in the CAl region, it makes no obvious difference whether the ACSF temperature during preparation is 4, 20, or 36°C. The environment in the recording chamber is usually kept at 33-37°C. At this temperature slices can be maintained for some 10-15 hr. Others, using thicker brain slices of the olfactory cortex, have worked at a chamber temperature of 25°C (Harvey et ai, 1974 Scholfield, 1978a,6 Nicoll et ai, 1980). 

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Keep slicing the brain tissue until the desired position is reached. 

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