Wightman Group

The research in our group is directed at the development of microsensors and their use to measure chemical events in microenvironments. We have developed ultramicroelectrodes that are robust chemical sensors, which can resolve chemical events with micron or submicron spatial resolution. In addition, these probes can be used for measurements on the nanosecond time scale and in environments in which electrochemical measurements are normally impossible.

All of these features are being exploited in a wide range of experimental investigations of chemical communication between biological cells. For example, we are presently using these tools to investigate phenomena as wide-ranging as the stochastic nature of exocytotic chemical release from single biological cells, the regulation of release of dopamine from brain neurons, and the interactions between neurons within the brain that control and encode reward based behavior.

Shown here is a signal obtained by stimulating release from dopamine brain neurons. The signal shows an increase in dopamine (shown in green) as well as a basic pH shift (shown in blue). The signals can be separated using statistical techniques developed in our lab.