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10.2 Automated Multi-Slice Extracellular Experiments
Note: the automated perfusion control is currently only supported by National Instruments M- or X-Series
board. There are no plans to support the Digidata 132x boards in the future.
There are three basic concepts for WinLTP Automated Multi-Slice experiments:
1) Sequential Protocol Scripts
+ Automated Perfusion Control
+ Running many WinLTP programs at once = Automated Multi-Slice Experiments
2) 1 WinLTP / ADboard controls  1 Perfusion Controller controlling solution in
 1 ‘Chamber’ which can contain
 1 or more ‘Wells’, each well containing 1 Slice
3) We favour : 1 Slice from 1 animal per experiment is N = 1
Before we get into detailed discussion of using WinLTP for multi-slice experiments, we would like to note
that there are several commercial, fully integrated systems for doing multi-slice experiments. These
include:
1) SliceMaster from Scientifica which comes in 4 and 8 slice systems and uses conventional
extracellular recording.
2) SynchroSlice from Lohman Research which comes as a 4 slice system and uses conventional
extracellular recording.
3) MultiChannel Systems has developed a system that can record from brain slices using a planar 32
channel multielectrode array system, and can include their LTP-Director software to perform the
usual LTP experimental protocols and analyses. Several of these systems could be employed
together to produce a similarly priced multi-slice system.
10.2.1 What is your N?
The first, most important, consideration in designing your multi-slice experimental setup is: What will your
N be?
In academic research, most researchers we know think that an N of 1 is for 1 slice from 1 animal exposed
to 1 experimental protocol (including both stimulation and perfusion solutions).
So if 1 slice each was obtained from 2 animals, and these two slices were exposed to the SAME
stimulation protocol and the SAME perfusion solutions, this would be a ‘Strict’ N of 2.
And if 2 slices were obtained from 1 animal, and these two slices were exposed to the DIFFERENT
stimulation protocols and DIFFERENT perfusion solutions, this would also be a ‘Strict’ N of 2.
Furthermore, if 2 slices were obtained from 1 animal, and these two slices were exposed to the SAME
stimulation and DIFFERENT perfusion solutions (say different concentrations of antagonists), this would
also be a ‘Strict’ N of 2.