An Electrophysiological Study of Retinogeniculate and Corticogeniculate Synapses in Mouse Brain Slices

Source: Chen, X., et al. Electrophysiological Investigations of Retinogeniculate and Corticogeniculate Synapse Function. J. Vis. Exp. (2019). The video describes the electrophysiological recording of retinogeniculate and corticogeniculate synapses in mouse brain slices. The slices containing the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) are placed in a recording chamber. A stimulating pipette is positioned on either the optic tract to stimulate retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and investigate retinogeniculate synapses or the nucleus reticularis thalami to stimulate cortical neurons and investigate corticogeniculate synapses. Upon stimulation, the RGCs and cortical neurons release excitatory neurotransmitters, which produce synaptic currents in the LGN relay neurons. These currents are recorded using a patch-clamp recording pipette.