Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

I am requesting funds to purchase a modern electrophysiology system capable of whole-cell patch clamp recordings and extracellular field recordings in brain slices made from rodents. Slice electrophysiology is a powerful neuroscience technique that allows researchers to study the activity and properties of individual neurons or neural networks in highly controlled experimental settings. I am requesting a new slice electrophysiology system to replace the malfunctioning and outdated systems at my institution that have limited the research potential and throughput of my laboratory.   The proposed equipment is a complete electrophysiology system that includes a microscope body, microscope objectives, a digital camera system, a brightfield and fluorescence illumination system to visualize brain samples, a software package to control the attached hardware, standard equipment for electrophysiological recordings (micromanipulators, controllers, stage platform, recording chambers, etc), and an anti-vibration table with faraday cage package designed to reduce mechanical and electrical artifacts in our recordings. The quoted systems are configured to perform a) simultaneous dual whole-cell patch clamp experiments or b) a single whole-cell patch clamp recording with an extracellular recording to monitor network-level activity. The systems are also equipped with modern LED light sources and filter sets. This hardware will support powerful gain- and loss-of function optogenetic experiments that can provide significant mechanistic insight at the cellular and circuit level. The ability to perform advanced electrophysiological recordings with this equipment will significantly increase the impact of discoveries in my laboratory and will lead to new theories about the specific cells and circuits that govern cognition and emotion. The proposed system will be a major workhorse for my NSERC-funded laboratory and my 4 NSERC-funded collaborators at the University of Saskatchewan. I anticipate that the proposed system will be used at least 4 to 5 days per week for the next 10 to 15 years. My current student and I each have approximately 7 years of slice electrophysiology experience and will provide hands-on training to highly qualified personal (HQP) in my laboratory and our collaborators' laboratories. HQP will benefit from this experience as slice electrophysiology theory and methods are fundamental to the field of neuroscience and related disciplines. Moreover, slice electrophysiology is a highly specialized and sought after skillset that will make HQP that train on this equipment highly competitive for a variety of academic and industry positions.