Intracellular studies on transmitter effects on neurones in isolated brain slices

Brain slice preparations seem to offer an opportunity to study the mechanism of action of some drugs. They allow long-lasting intracellular recording of good quality. Measurement of membrane parameters may be made under conditions in which drugs may be applied to the bath, by the microdrop method or by one or several iontophoretic electrode assembles to various positions on the same cell. Combined with microsurgery and various pre-treatments of the animal, the slice technique may extent our knowledge on the detailed mechanisms of drug interaction with particular neurons. A useful development of this technique probably requires a continuous comparison between the results obtained from slices with those acquired from experiments on the same cell types in intact preparations.