Tools to measure membrane potential of neurons

The brain is the most unexplored part of our body. The lack of sufficient tools has hindered our understanding of the brain and the associated diseases. The study of neurons and the neuronal network will help elucidate how the brain functions and related disorders. Over the last few decades, an increasing number of techniques have been reported to study neurons and neuronal communication in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. These methods have pushed the boundaries of neuroscience and elucidated more information than ever before; however, much more requires to be done to understand the brain in its entirety. In this review article, I discuss the principles and the advantages and disadvantages of the classical electrode-based recording techniques and the optical imaging-based methods, which have aided neuroscientists in understanding neuronal communication.