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Hippocampus

Synaptic Pharmacology

  • Chapter
Brain Slices

Abstract

Central nervous system pharmacology is in the midst of a new stage of development. With the advent of sensitive and specific radioreceptor binding assays for studying drug-receptor interactions, rapid advances have been made in the biochemical investigation of drug and transmitter mechanisms. Our knowledge of the physiological actions of neuroactive drugs has also progressed in recent years, due in large part to the extensive use of the iontophoretic technique coupled with extra- and intracellular recording from cells in the intact brain. Although such in vivo studies provide an important and necessary foundation for any serious investigation of the effects of a drug on the nervous system, detailed information about the site and mode of action of drugs is very difficult to obtain. In vivo electrophysiological studies of neurons in the mammalian brain generally suffer from two difficulties that prohibit detailed analysis: (1) insufficient mechanical stability to permit long-lasting intracellular recordings on a routine basis and (2) an inability to know the equilibrium concentration of drugs in the interstitial space. These drawbacks can be overcome with the use of brain slices, which forms the basis of a strong rationale for the utility of these preparations in neuropharmacological investigations.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, USA

    Raymond Dingledine

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    Raymond Dingledine

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Dingledine, R. (1984). Hippocampus. In: Dingledine, R. (eds) Brain Slices. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4583-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4583-1_5

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