Juliette Cheyne uses a specialised technique called patch clamping, which is used in electrophysiology. This enables her to measure electrical currents in individual cells that she has cultured. Cells in the brain communicate by chemical and electrical signals. Juliette is interested in researching how the expression of specific proteins can affect the electrical signals and communication between cells.
Juliette can look at live cultured cells on her rig which involves a microscope, a camera (and screen) and a computer which records the activity.
Tim Chapman watched Juliette perform a paired recording where she could investigate the synapses that connect two neurons. The presynaptic cell was stimulated so that it fired an action potential (the basic unit of activity for brain cells). The postsynaptic cell showed a response to the action potential showing that the two cells are connected to each other. After that Juliette helped Tim to patch his very first neuron!
