Microcomputer-controlled laboratory system for field potential experiments.
A microcomputer-controlled laboratory system for hippocampal field potential experiments was constituted. This system realized the quasi-simultaneous processing of execution of stimulation, data acquisition, data display and data analysis by means of a microcomputer for the first time. To attain this quasi-simultaneous processing, a new algorithm for drawing a tangent on the wave-form of the potential was contrived, which enabled rapid analysis of an arbitrary population spike even in the case of generation of double spikes. The system has the following functions: (1) execution of the programmed stimulation paradigm, (2) analog/digital (A/D) conversion of the evoked field potential with a sampling interval of more than 50 microseconds per channel, (3) display of the A/D converted wave-form data on a CRT and storage of the data on a floppy disk, (4) on-line analysis of the population excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and population spike, (5) more detailed off-line analysis of the field potentials, and (6) output of the wave-form data and measured values through a printer and an X-Y plotter.
Ashida
H
H
Department of Physiology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan.
Maru
E
E
Tatsuno
J
J
D000200:Action Potentials; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D008838:Microcomputers; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology