Spontaneous activity in Purkinje cells: multi-electrode recording from organotypic cerebellar slice cultures.

Abstract Organotypic cerebellar cultures were maintained on multi-electrode dishes (MED) with an 8×8 array of electrodes and examined for physiological activity. The cultures remained viable for up to seven months and exhibited spontaneous discharges most likely originating from Purkinje cells. Spike frequencies varied but were mostly around 10–30 Hz and were often stable over weeks with average drifts of h channels caused a majority of cells to switch from tonic firing to a cyclic activity mode in which intense firing alternated with silence. Agonists for cholinergic, serotonergic, histamine, opiate, and CRF receptors had no effect, but those for adrenergic and adenosine A1 receptors reduced firing. Moreover, brief application of bromocriptine caused a delayed decrease in firing that reached a minimum after 24 to 48 h and recovered after 1–2 weeks. Taken together, our results demonstrate that long-term cultures maintained on multi-electrode arrays retain many essential features of cerebellar physiology and that they provide a test system that is well suited for broad screening of pharmacological agents as well as for studying long-term effects of drugs, tissue factors, and pathogens.