PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - HS Orbach
AU  - LB Cohen
AU  - A Grinvald
TI  - Optical mapping of electrical activity in rat somatosensory and visual cortex
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.05-07-01886.1985
DP  - 1985 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 1886--1895
VI  - 5
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/5/7/1886.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/5/7/1886.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1985 Jul 01; 5
AB  - We have investigated the use of optical methods for monitoring neuron activity in mammalian cortex. The cortex was stained with a voltage- sensitive dye and fluorescence was simultaneously measured from 124 areas using a photodiode array. Optical signals were detected in rat somatosensory cortex in response to small whisker movements and in visual cortex in response to light flashes to the eye. Relatively large signals were obtained during focal interictal epileptiform discharges induced by bicuculline. The measuring system had a time resolution of milliseconds and a spatial resolution of a few hundred micrometers. Simultaneous, multi-site optical recordings of activity may provide a new and potentially powerful method for studying function and dysfunction in mammalian cortex.