Silvia Marenna1, Valerio Castoldi2, Raffaele d'Isa2, Cursi Marco2, Giancarlo Comi1,2, Letizia Leocani3,4. 1. University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy. 2. Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSPE), IRCCS-San Raffaele Hospital, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy. 3. University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy. letizia.leocani@hsr.it. 4. Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSPE), IRCCS-San Raffaele Hospital, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy. letizia.leocani@hsr.it.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are used to assess visual function in preclinical models of neurodegenerative diseases. VEP recording with epidural screw electrodes is a common method to study visual function in rodents, despite being an invasive procedure that can damage the tissue under the skull. The present study was performed to test a semi-invasive (epicranial) and a non-invasive (epidermal) VEP recording technique, comparing them with the classic epidural acquisition method. METHODS: Flash VEPs were recorded from C57BL/6 mice on three separate days within 2 weeks. Waveforms, latencies and amplitudes of the components were compared between the three different methods, utilizing coefficient of repeatability, coefficient of variation and intersession standard deviation to evaluate reproducibility. RESULTS: While epidural electrodes succeeded in recording two negative peaks (N1 and N2), epicranial and epidermal electrodes recorded a single peak (N1). Statistical indexes showed a comparable reproducibility between the three techniques, with a greater stability of N1 latency recorded through epicranial electrodes. Moreover, N1 amplitudes recorded with the new less-invasive methods were more reproducible compared to the invasive gold-standard technique. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the reliability of semi- and non-invasive VEP recordings, which can be useful to evaluate murine models of neurological diseases.
PURPOSE: Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are used to assess visual function in preclinical models of neurodegenerative diseases. VEP recording with epidural screw electrodes is a common method to study visual function in rodents, despite being an invasive procedure that can damage the tissue under the skull. The present study was performed to test a semi-invasive (epicranial) and a non-invasive (epidermal) VEP recording technique, comparing them with the classic epidural acquisition method. METHODS: Flash VEPs were recorded from C57BL/6 mice on three separate days within 2 weeks. Waveforms, latencies and amplitudes of the components were compared between the three different methods, utilizing coefficient of repeatability, coefficient of variation and intersession standard deviation to evaluate reproducibility. RESULTS: While epidural electrodes succeeded in recording two negative peaks (N1 and N2), epicranial and epidermal electrodes recorded a single peak (N1). Statistical indexes showed a comparable reproducibility between the three techniques, with a greater stability of N1 latency recorded through epicranial electrodes. Moreover, N1 amplitudes recorded with the new less-invasive methods were more reproducible compared to the invasive gold-standard technique. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the reliability of semi- and non-invasive VEP recordings, which can be useful to evaluate murine models of neurological diseases.
Authors: Katie Lidster; Samuel J Jackson; Zubair Ahmed; Peter Munro; Pete Coffey; Gavin Giovannoni; Mark D Baker; David Baker Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-11-04 Impact factor: 3.240