Electrophysiology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The enteric nervous system (ENS) plays a key role in regulating gut motility and homeostasis yet it remains a challenging system to record from. Here, the authors develop a novel abdominal window permitting simultaneous optical and electrical recording of mouse ENS system activity over prolonged time periods.

    • Nikolai Rakhilin
    • , Bradley Barth
    •  & Xiling Shen
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dendritic spines located on individual neurons process information, but our understanding of the electrical behaviour of spines is still limited. Here, the authors use voltage-sensitive dye imaging techniques to monitor electrical signals from thin basal spines and show that synapses are not electrically isolated by the spine neck.

    • Marko A. Popovic
    • , Nicholas Carnevale
    •  & Dejan Zecevic
  • Article |

    Monitoring neuronal activity of large populations of neurons at high-temporal and spatial resolution is important to understand neurophysiology but requires improved tools and methods. Here the authors develop a transparent and flexible electrode based on graphene that allows them to combine electrophysiological recordings with calcium imaging.

    • Duygu Kuzum
    • , Hajime Takano
    •  & Brian Litt
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Propagating waves of cortical neuronal activity are implicated in various cognitive processes and have been observed in anaesthetised animals. Here, the authors demonstrate the existence of propagating waves in awake monkeys during visual stimulation, and show that they are mediated by horizontal fibres in the cortex.

    • Lyle Muller
    • , Alexandre Reynaud
    •  & Alain Destexhe
  • Article |

    Magnetic stimulation is used therapeutically for neurological disorders, but its effectiveness is hindered by efficacy and safety limitations due to large device sizes. Here the authors show that sub-millimetre, micro-magnetic coils effectively stimulate hamster cochlear neurons, with minimal side effects.

    • Hyun-Joo Park
    • , Giorgio Bonmassar
    •  & John T. Gale
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flexible organic electronic devices have the potential to serve as biosensors in living animals. Khodagholy et al. show that organic transistors can be used to record brain activity in rats and demonstrate that they have a superior signal-to-noise ratio compared with electrodes due to local signal amplification.

    • Dion Khodagholy
    • , Thomas Doublet
    •  & George G. Malliaras
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seizure activity in the brain is characterized by the recruitment of cortical neuronal activity. Schevon and colleagues study seizure activity in human subjects and find that the recruitment of neurons is hypersynchronous and that there is an intrinsic restraint on the propagation of this activity.

    • Catherine A. Schevon
    • , Shennan A. Weiss
    •  & Andrew J. Trevelyan
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrical stimulation is used to treat a range of neurological diseases, but there are limitations that reduce its benefits. Bonmassar and colleagues show that magnetic stimulation delivered by small coils, close to the targeted neural tissue, can also be used to activate neurons and with fewer limitations.

    • Giorgio Bonmassar
    • , Seung Woo Lee
    •  & John T. Gale
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulsed infrared laser light can directly stimulate nerves and muscles, but the underlying biophysical mechanism has remained enigmatic. This study reveals that infrared pulses depolarize target cells by reversibly altering the electrical capacitance of the plasma membrane.

    • Mikhail G. Shapiro
    • , Kazuaki Homma
    •  & Francisco Bezanilla