title: Imaging membrane potential with voltage-sensitive dyes.
abstract: Membrane potential can be measured optically using a variety of molecular probes. These measurements can be useful in studying function at the level of an individual cell, for determining how groups of neurons generate a behavior, and for studying the correlated behavior of populations of neurons. Examples of the three kinds of measurements are presented. The signals obtained from these measurements are generally small. Methodological considerations necessary to optimize the resulting signal-to-noise ratio are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. mrz@fred.med.yale.edu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zochowski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wachowiak
authors.forename: C X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Antic
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zecevic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes