电压敏感染料成像技术及其在神经科学中的应用

Voltage Sensitive Dye Imaging and Its Application in Neuroscience

电压敏感染料成像(voltage sensitive dye imaging,VSDI)技术利用结合在神经细胞脂膜上的染料,将膜电位转化为荧光或光吸收信号,并用光学成像方法对神经电活动进行多点测量。VSDI在过去的50年内发展迅速,其良好的时空分辨率使它成为一种在介观(mesoscopic)时空尺度上研究神经元群体电活动的实用技术。这项技术对探索大脑功能和研究神经系统疾病有着重要的贡献。本文首先对该技术的发展历史做一简单介绍,接下来简述当今世界上这一领域的主要研究内容,以及该技术的发展前景。

Voltage sensitive dye imaging（VSDI） is a technology using membrane binding dye molecules to convert changes in membrane potential into light signals（fluorescent or absorption）.Combined with optical imaging,a simultaneous measurement from many locations can be achieved in the cortex and other excitable tissue.VSDI techniques have been developed over the past 50 years and have become a useful tool for studying brain function during normal and pathological conditions at mesoscopic scale.In this article,we begin with a brief history of technical development of the dyes and recording instruments.Then we present a number of example applications for measuring cortical population activities.