title: The application of elastomeric connector for multi-channel electrophysiological recordings.
abstract: Interest in recording multi-channel electrophysiological data from behaving animals is rapidly growing, and many laboratories tend to record a large number of EEG and/or multi-unit channels, despite the limitation of the size of the headpiece that a small behaving animal can carry. A common drawback of these experiments, therefore, is the relatively large size of even the smallest, commercially available, high-density micro-connectors for the headset. To overcome this problem, we suggest the application of elastomeric or silicone inter-rubber connectors, that are widely used in electronics. The elastomeric or "zebra" connector consists of alternating thin strips of layered electrically conductive and non-conductive materials. The conductive strips provide electrical connections between uninsulated contact surfaces of printed circuit boards such as the connector plate of the micro-drive, that holds the brain electrode wires, and the preamplifier board of the recording system. In the present paper, we provide technical details of the design of this type of connector-sets and discuss common issues arising from their use. By comparing the applicability of two designs, we aim to demonstrate the simplicity, reliability and durability of the elastomeric inter-rubber connectors in electrophysiological experiments on freely moving laboratory animals.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Pécs, Szigeti út 12, H-7624, Pécs, Hungary. imre@cortex.pote.hu
authors.forename: Imre
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: Kálmán
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Máthé
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tóth
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hernádi
authors.forename: András
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Czurkó
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008839:Microelectrodes; D051381:Rats; D012826:Silicone Elastomers
chemical_list: D012826:Silicone Elastomers