ABSTRACT

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 234

Overview................................................................................................................................... 234

Monitoring Neural Activity...................................................................................................... 234

Voltammetry ............................................................................................................................. 236

Principles of FSCV at a CFM.................................................................................................. 236

Applications of FSCV at a CFM ............................................................................................. 238

Principles of Telemetry ................................................................................................................ 240

Resources .................................................................................................................................. 240

Theory and Basic Instrumentation ........................................................................................... 240

Digital Telemetry at 2.4 GHz................................................................................................... 242

Wireless Neural Monitoring and Control .................................................................................... 244

Scope......................................................................................................................................... 244

Electrophysiology ..................................................................................................................... 244

Voltammetry ............................................................................................................................. 245

Electrical Stimulation ............................................................................................................... 245

Real-Time Animal Telemetry ...................................................................................................... 245

Instrument Overview ................................................................................................................ 245

Establishment of Proof of Principle ......................................................................................... 247

Preliminary Findings in Freely Moving Animals .................................................................... 248

Future Directions .......................................................................................................................... 250

The Smaller the Better ............................................................................................................. 250

Multifunctional Wireless Instrument ....................................................................................... 250

Portable Microsensor Measurement System............................................................................ 251

Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 253

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ 253

References .................................................................................................................................... 253

A new instrument for the monitoring and control of neural activity is described in this chapter. The

novel characteristic, wireless communication, confers several advantages. Most revolve around

freeing the animal from the cable tether linking animal and recording equipment in traditional,

hardwired set-ups. The new instrument, called real-time animal telemetry or RAT, was initially

developed to support fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at a carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM).

Hence, a large portion of the background section of this chapter is dedicated to this voltammetric

microsensor technique for chemical monitoring. We are also working towards the goal of incor-

porating other microelectrode approaches into RAT, such as, electrophysiology for measuring

bioelectric signals and potentiometry for measuring ions. In theory, RAT could accommodate

any sensing technology that transduces the input signal into a voltage signal. While RAT was

also developed to support electrical stimulation for focally controlling neural activity, it should be

possible to incorporate other methods for this purpose as well. Before the actual description of the

wireless instrument, a brief primer on telemetry is presented, along with an abbreviated review of

existing wireless instruments for neural monitoring and control.