But these experiments did not address the dynamic function of the brain, only the static arrangement. For understanding ongoing neural activity, popular techniques generally focus on examining electrophysiological activity with intracellular recording. Single neurons of dissociated cultures provide a useful reductionist model, however this technique is limited by short time intervals for recording from single cells. This model also provides limited information about other cells in the network. Brain slices from rodents provide more of a realistic model where cortical architecture is maintained. But such slices, even when cultured, have a limited life span and can be technically challenging to keep alive while retaining cytoarchitecture2.
