Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dynamic Clamp Technique

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

  • 96 Accesses

Definition

Dynamic clamp is an electrophysiological technique for introducing simulated electrical components into biological cells using a real-time closed loop between the cell and a computer or another electronic device. Classic dynamic clamp protocols build a voltage-dependent current injection cycle to implement artificial membrane or synaptic conductances in the cell membrane of biological neurons. These protocols are employed to assess a large variety of neuronal computational properties and are widely applied for studying the physiology of neural systems at the cellular and circuit levels.

Detailed Description

History

The use of closed-loop feedback interactions with living neurons for observation and control purposes goes back to the beginnings of electrophysiology when the voltage clamp technique was developed (Marmont 1949; Cole 1955). The voltage clamp technique measures currents across the membrane of excitable cells while holding the membrane potential at a constant...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 2,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Brette R, Piwkowska Z, Monier C, Rudolph-Lilith M, Fournier J, Levy M, Frégnac Y, Bal T, Destexhe A (2008) High-resolution intracellular recordings using a real-time computational model of the electrode. Neuron 59:379–391

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Butera RJ, Wilson CG, Delnegro CA, Smith JC (2001) A methodology for achieving high-speed rates for artificial conductance injection in electrically excitable biological cells. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 48:1460–1470

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chamorro P, Muñiz C, Levi R, Arroyo D, Rodríguez FB, Varona P (2012) Generalization of the dynamic clamp concept in neurophysiology and behavior. PLoS ONE 7:e40887

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cole KS (1955) Ions, potentials and the nerve impulse. In: Shedlovsky T (ed) Electrochemistry in biology and medicine. Wiley, New York, pp 121–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Destexhe A, Bal T (eds) (2009) Dynamic-clamp: from principles to applications. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorval AD, Christini DJ, White JA (2001) Real-time linux dynamic clamp: a fast and flexible way to construct virtual ion channels in living cells. Ann Biomed Eng 29:897–907

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Economo MN, Fernandez FR, White JA (2010) Dynamic clamp: alteration of response properties and creation of virtual realities in neurophysiology. J Neurosci 30:2407–2413

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Vargas J, Pfaff HU, Rodriguez FB, Varona P (2013) Assisted closed-loop optimization of SSVEP-BCI efficiency. Front Neural Circuits 7:27

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goaillard J-M, Marder E (2006) Dynamic clamp analyses of cardiac, endocrine, and neural function. Physiology (Bethesda) 21:197–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemenes I, Marra V, Crossley M, Samu D, Staras K, Kemenes G, Nowotny T (2011) Dynamic clamp with StdpC software. Nat Protoc 6:405–417

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kullmann PHM, Wheeler DW, Beacom J, Horn JP (2004) Implementation of a fast 16-Bit dynamic clamp using LabVIEW-RT. J Neurophysiol 91:542–554

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lin RJ, Bettencourt J, Ite JW, Christini DJ, Butera RJ (2010) Real-time experiment interface for biological control applications. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2010:4160–4163

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marmont G (1949) Studies on the axon membrane; a new method. J Cell Physiol 34:351–382

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muniz C, Rodriguez FB, Varona P (2009) RTBiomanager: a software platform to expand the applications of real-time technology in neuroscience. BMC Neurosci 10:P49

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowotny T, Szucs A, Pinto RD, Selverston AI (2006) StdpC: a modern dynamic clamp. J Neurosci Methods 158:287–299

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto RD, Elson RC, Szücs A, Rabinovich MI, Selverston AI, Abarbanel HD (2001) Extended dynamic clamp: controlling up to four neurons using a single desktop computer and interface. J Neurosci Methods 108:39–48

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prinz AA, Abbott LF, Marder E (2004) The dynamic clamp comes of age. Trends Neurosci 27:218

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson HP, Kawai N (1993) Injection of digitally synthesized synaptic conductance transients to measure the integrative properties of neurons. J Neurosci Methods 49:157

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samu D, Marra V, Kemenes I, Crossley M, Kemenes G, Staras K, Nowotny T (2012) Single electrode dynamic clamp with StdpC. J Neurosci Meth 211:11–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp AA, O’Neil MB, Abbott LF, Marder E (1993) Dynamic clamp: computer-generated conductances in real neurons. J Neurophysiol 69:992–995

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tan RC, Joyner RW (1990) Electrotonic influences on action potentials from isolated ventricular cells. Circ Res 67:1071–1081

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wallach A, Eytan D, Gal A, Zrenner C, Marom S (2011) Neuronal response clamp. Front Neuroengineer 4:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Yarom Y (1991) Rhythmogenesis in a hybrid system-interconnecting an olivary neuron to an analog network of coupled oscillators. Neuroscience 44:263–275

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Thomas Nowotny

  2. Departamento de Ingenieria Informatica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Pablo Varona

Authors
  1. Thomas Nowotny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pablo Varona
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Nowotny .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Ranu Jung

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Nowotny, T., Varona, P. (2015). Dynamic Clamp Technique. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6675-8_126

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation