Monday, March 16, 2009
An Introduction to Electrochemical Methods in Neuroscience
Electrochemical methods comprise a collection of extremely useful measurement tools for neuroscience. A central feature of these methods is an electrode that provides a surface or interface where some form of a charge-transfer process occurs. This charge-transfer process gives rise to potentials and/or currents that can be measured and related either by theory or by calibration to the concentration of substances in the solution that bathes the electrode. Broadly speaking, these methods can be divided into two groups: measurements that do not involve current, known generally as potentiometric methods, and measurements that involve current flow at an electrode under potential control, known as amperometry, voltammetry, or polarography, depending upon the details of the experimental design. Amperometric and voltammetric methods are the main, but not exclusive, focus of this book. It is completely natural that neuroscientists should find electrochemical methods of value because the nervous system contains numerous electrochemically detectable targets including simple inorganic ions, catecholamine and indolamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites, glutamate, nitric oxide (NO), glucose, lactate, ascorbate, urate, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), oxygen (O2), and pH. Moreover, the high ionic strength of biological environments creates a perfect milieu for electrochemistry, which requires conductive media.
This chapter briefly introduces the history of amperometry and voltammetry in the neurosciences and briefly surveys their applications. Although not intended as a thorough explanation of the methods themselves, the chapter provides a tutorial and primer on their basic operating principles and points the interested reader to sources of more detailed information.
This chapter briefly introduces the history of amperometry and voltammetry in the neurosciences and briefly surveys their applications. Although not intended as a thorough explanation of the methods themselves, the chapter provides a tutorial and primer on their basic operating principles and points the interested reader to sources of more detailed information.
posted by nobletrader
@ 10:46 AM
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