Slice preparation

The slice preparation or brain slice is a

Slice preparation techniques

Free hand sectioning is a type of preparation techniques where a skilled operator uses razor blade for slicing. The blade is wetted with an isotonic solution before cutting to avoid tissue smudging during cutting. This method has several drawbacks such as sample size limitation and difficult to observe progress. Modern microtome devices such as Compresstome microtomes are used to prepare slices as these devices have less limitations.^[3]

Benefits

When investigating mammalian CNS activity, slice preparation has several advantages and disadvantages when compared to in vivo study. Slice preparation is both faster and cheaper than

Limitations

Slice preparation also has some drawbacks. Most obviously, an isolated slice lacks the usual input and output connections present in the whole brain. Further, the slicing process may itself compromise the tissue. To minimize complications in the slicing process, a more sophisticated tissue slicer may be used such as the Compresstome, a type of vibrating microtome used to maximizes the amount of viable tissue cells. Additionally, slicing of the brain can damage the top and bottom of the section, but beyond that, the process of decapitation and extraction of the brain before the slice is placed in solution may have effects on the tissue which are not yet understood. During recording, the tissue also "ages", degrading at a faster rate than in the intact animal. Finally, the artificial composition of the bathing solution means that the presence and relative concentrations of the necessary compounds may not be present.^[4]

References