Patch Clamp Recording in Vivo

Patch clamp recording in vivo allows an investigator to study intracellular membrane potentials in an intact organism (as opposed to cells in culture or acute brain slices). This technique is a reliable method of obtaining high-quality intracellular recordings from neurons, regardless of their size, in several parts of the mammalian brain. This chapter will describe the principles and practice of performing patch clamp experiments in vivo, beginning with a brief history of the technological developments that have made this technique possible.