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Concept
Electrophysiology
Summary
Electrophysiology (from Greek ἥλεκτ, ēlektron, "amber" [see the etymology of "electron"]; φύσις, physis, "nature, origin"; and -λογία, -logia) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage changes or electric current or manipulations on a wide variety of scales from single ion channel proteins to whole organs like the heart. In neuroscience, it includes measurements of the electrical activity of neurons, and, in particular, action potential activity. Recordings of large-scale electric signals from the nervous system, such as electroencephalography, may also be referred to as electrophysiological recordings. They are useful for electrodiagnosis and monitoring.
Electrophysiology is the branch of physiology that pertains broadly to the flow of ions (ion current) in biological tissues and, in particular, to the electrical recording techniques that enable the measurement of this flow. Classical electrophysiology techniques involve placing electrodes into various preparations of biological tissue. The principal types of electrodes are:
Simple solid conductors, such as discs and needles (singles or arrays, often insulated except for the tip),
Tracings on printed circuit boards or flexible polymers, also insulated except for the tip, and
Hollow, often elongated or 'pulled', tubes filled with an electrolyte, such as glass pipettes filled with potassium chloride solution or another electrolyte solution.
The principal preparations include:
living organisms (example in insects),
excised tissue (acute or cultured),
dissociated cells from excised tissue (acute or cultured),
artificially grown cells or tissues, or
hybrids of the above.
Neuronal electrophysiology is the study of electrical properties of biological cells and tissues within the nervous system. With neuronal electrophysiology doctors and specialists can determine how neuronal disorders happen, by looking at the individual's brain activity.
Official source
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