Sounds of Neuroscience

The neuroscience laboratory is filled with different sounds - cracklingfrom the amplified responses of neurons, scratching of a sliding microtomecutting tissue, the pumping of a respirator.

Each of the sounds on this page is a"wav" file between 10K-20K in size.Click on the to hear each sound.

Trigeminal Ganglion Cell: this isabout 2 seconds of activity that was recorded from a ganglion cell afterthe maxillary (upper) incisor tooth of an anesthetized rat was tapped 5times. Listen for 5 distinct "bursts" of actionpotentials.

Trigeminal Ganglion Cell: this isabout 2 seconds of activity that was recorded from a rat ganglion cellafter a single whisker (vibrissa) was moved and held in position. Listen for the rapid steady burst of action potentials. This neuron was firing about 100 action potentials every second. Thepicture below is the actual recording of a portion of what you arehearing...each action potential inthis record is separated by about 10 milliseconds. There are 21 actionpotentials displayed in this picture of the recording - count them!

Sliding Microtome: about 1 second of thesound made by a sliding microtome as it cuts through a frozen brain. Amicrotome is an instrument that is used to cut thin sections of tissuethat will be examined with a microscope. The brain is frozen with dry iceand then cut into sections that are 50 microns thick. After the tissuesections are cut, they are usually stained and mounted on glassslides.

TheMicrotome

Electronic Microdrive: a fewseconds of the sound of made by an electronic microdrive as it advances aelectrode into the brain. Every click that you hear is the electrode advancing 1 micron (one thousandth of a millimeter). A microdrive is used to position the electrode in a particular area of the brain forrecording activity from neurons.

ElectronicMicrodrive

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Exploring theNervous System

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