ABSTRACT
Electroporation has been used for Ca2+ imaging with, for instance, localized expression of GCaMP5G and also mOrange to localize the cell, both cDNAs being under the control of the same promoter. This chapter describes a few methods of molecular biology that are major advances for the study of the nervous system. Neuronal control can also be performed using small molecule photoswitches directly coupled to an ordinary ion channel or receptor to make it sensitive to light and attached to it in such a way that photoisomerization will cause it to open. The extracellular recording technique is very powerful to detect any nearby neuronal activity. A wave simultaneously recorded on different channels probably arises from the same neuron and the relative amplitudes on each channel will yield an indication of the position of this cell with respect to the corresponding wire.
