Neurons

There are several preparations that can be utilized to study the development of the vertebrate nervous system and the physiology and pharmacology of individual vertebrate neurons. These include both in vivo and in vitro preparations. The latter include brain slices (both conventional “thick” and new “thin” slices) as well as organotypic central nervous system (CNS) cultures and primary dissociated cell cultures. Each of these preparations can be appropriately utilized for particular kinds of studies and no single one of these is best for all neurobiological studies. This chapter will focus on the system of primary dissociated cell cultures of different parts of the mammalian CNS. These preparations have become more and more popular for studying issues related to the growth and development of the nervous system, the expression of neuron specific properties, and cellular physiology and pharmacology of mammalian CNS function.