Description of the cultured neuron network paradigm.

<p>Panels show culture dish (top left), microscopic view of rat cortical cells (top right), and evoked voltage trace from one electrode (bottom). <b>(A)</b> Image of a microelectrode array (MEA) dish. Cells were seeded in the center of the MEA dishes. The microelectrode sampling frequency was 25 kHz and a 500–2000 Hz band-pass filter was applied to the recordings. <b>(B)</b> Phase-contrast microscopic images of cultured rat cortical cells on MEA dishes after 52 days in culture. Note the high concentration of cells near the electrode terminals. Black squares are electrodes. <b>(C)</b> A typical waveform of the extracellular potential. After a biphasic-pulse electrical stimulation (<i>τ</i> = 0), several stimulation-evoked spikes were observed at the stimulated electrode. The dashed line indicates the detection threshold. Red circles indicate detected spikes.