Home › Neuroscience › Electrophysiological Method for Recording Intracellular Voltage Responses of Drosophila Photoreceptors and Interneurons to Light Stimuli In Vivo
Neuroscience JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Electrophysiological Method for Recording Intracellular Voltage Responses of Drosophila Photoreceptors and Interneurons to Light Stimuli In Vivo

DOI: 10.3791/54142-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Fabricate sharp microelectrodes for intracellular recording
  • ✓ Prepare Drosophila for in vivo electrophysiology
  • ✓ Record voltage responses from photoreceptors and interneurons
  • ✓ Interpret neural light responses in insect vision
Protocol

Sharp microelectrodes enable accurate electrophysiological characterization of photoreceptor and visual interneuron output in living Drosophila. Here we show how to use this method to record high-quality voltage responses of individual cells to controlled light stimulation. This method is ideal for studying neural information processing in insect compound eyes.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~4-6 hours per animal (including electrode fabrication, preparation, and recording sessions)
Model organism
Drosophila melanogaster

Steps

1
Fabricate sharp microelectrodes

Pull borosilicate glass capillaries using a microforge to create fine-tipped electrodes suitable for intracellular penetration of photoreceptor and interneuron cells.

▶ 00:52
2
Prepare Drosophila for recording

Mount and immobilize the fly, stabilize the compound eye, and position the animal under the microscope for microelectrode access to target neurons.

▶ 02:39
3
Record from photoreceptors and interneurons

Insert sharp electrodes into R1-R6 photoreceptors or lamina monopolar cells (LMCs) and deliver controlled light stimuli while recording high-quality intracellular voltage responses.

▶ 05:34
4
Analyze neural information processing results

Characterize voltage response properties and neural dynamics to understand phototransduction and visual signal processing in the insect compound eye.

▶ 08:50
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