title: Sensory and cognitive neurophysiology in rats. Part 2: Validation and demonstration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We have developed a novel setup for rats that allows for controlled sensory input to an animal engaged in a task while recording both electrophysiological signals and behavioral output.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our setup is described in a companion paper.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We validate our setup by replicating (1) the functionally nonspecific spread of neural activity following tactile stimulation, and (2) the effects of anesthesia on the tactile evoked responses. We also demonstrate for the first time that the ECoG can be used to record evoked responses in a signal that reflects neural output (spiking activity), and illustrate the usefulness of our setup by demonstrating that these evoked responses are modulated by both the phase of pre-stimulus oscillations and by expectation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Compared with high-density wire recordings, micro-ECoG offers a much more stable signal without readjustments, and a much better scalability. Compared with extracranial and regular ECoG recordings, micro-ECoG allows us to measure signals that reflect both neural input and neural output.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For sensory and cognitive research, our setup provides a unique combination of possibilities that cannot be achieved in other setups for rodents.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dimitriadis
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anne M M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fransen
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands. Electronic address: e.maris@donders.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maris
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness
keywords: Barrel cortex; Electrophysiology; Expectation; Head-mounted tactile stimulation; Micro-ECoG; Multi-unit activity; Pre-stimulus phase; Rat; Somatosensory system