Comparative study of extracellular recording methods for analysis of afferent sensory information: Empirical modeling, data analysis and interpretation

Abstract Background Physiological studies of sensorial systems often require the acquisition and processing of data extracted from their multiple components to evaluate how the neural information changes in relation to the environment changes. In this work, a comparative study about methodological aspects of two electrophysiological approaches is described. New method Extracellular recordings from deep vibrissal nerves were obtained by using a customized microelectrode Utah array during passive mechanical stimulation of rat´s whiskers. These recordings were compared with those obtained with bipolar electrodes. We also propose here a simplified empirical model of the electrophysiological activity obtained from a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers. Results The peripheral activity of the vibrissal system was characterized through the temporal and spectral features obtained with both recording methods. The empirical model not only allows the correlation between anatomical structures and functional features, but also allows to predict changes in the CAPs morphology when the arrangement and the geometry of the electrodes changes. Comparison with existing method(s) This study compares two extracellular recording methods based on analysis techniques, empirical modeling and data processing of vibrissal sensory information. Conclusions This comparative study reveals a close relationship between the electrophysiological techniques and the processing methods necessary to extract sensory information. This relationship is the result of maximizing the extraction of information from recordings of sensory activity.