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Long-Term Recording of Single Neurons and Criteria for Assessment

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Stable recording of the activity of single neurons in the brains of vertebrates can provide investigators with information on the processes underlying the plasticity of the nervous system. In practical terms, recording of the activity of individual neurons over long periods of time is relevant to the development of invasive brain-computer interfaces. We propose criteria for identifying neurons whose activity is present on traces for more than one day. Classification exclusively on the basis of action potential shape is extremely unreliable. Addition of supplementary comparison parameters to the classification, such as the pattern of the distribution of interspike intervals or the characteristics of this distribution, significantly decreases the probability of classification errors. Application of criteria to neurophysiological data allowed us to identify 82 neurons in our experimental data whose activity was present on traces lasting two days or more, and one neuron could be recorded for 94 days.

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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 64, No. 6, pp. 693–701, November–December, 2014.

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Vasil’eva, L.N., Badakva, A.M., Miller, N.V. et al. Long-Term Recording of Single Neurons and Criteria for Assessment. Neurosci Behav Physi 46, 264–269 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0227-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0227-8

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