Recording Brain Electrical ActivityNerve cells - like all living cells - maintain an electrical charge across their outer membrane. Since the electrical signals produced by nerve cells are comparatively small, they must be amplified before they can be measured accurately. Today, this is accompanied by using electronic amplifiers, much like those employed in home audio equipment.It is the size and placement of the electrodes that determine what aspects of neural activity will be recorded. Very large electrodes reflect the activity of larger populations of nerve cells; smaller electrodes can record more localized neuroelectric events.The Electroencephalogram:The electroencephalogram (EEG) is the neurologist’s term for the electrical activity that may be recorded from electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp. When such a recording is obtained from electrodes placed directly on the surface of the brain - usually during neurosurgery - the measure is called the electrocorticogram (ECoG).Several patterns of EEG activity - which he termed alpha, beta, theta, and delta - that differ in their frequency and amplitude. The waking human EEG is characterized by an alteration between two patterns: alpha activity, a rhythmic, high-amplitude, 8- to 12-Hz pattern, and beta activity, a low-voltage tracing at more than 13 Hz. Theta activity is between 5 and 7 Hz and typically is of medium amplitudes.The EEG is generated primarily by the activity of large numbers of nerve cells within the brain. Because the skull, which encloses the brain beneath the scalp, is an electrical insulator, under most circumstances, it is impossible to conclude which portion of the brain is generating any particular part of the EEG signal. The encephalogram has proven to be most useful in studying the sleep-waking cycle and in diagnosing epilepsy. Magnetic Recording:Although, today, magnetoencephalography (MEG) - the magnetic recording of brain activity from the scalp - is strictly an experimental procedure with a great many pitfalls in its application, magnetic rather than electrical recording is of considerable interest. One important difference between MEG and EEG is that the skull is electrically resistant but magnetically transparent. This means that the skull gravely distorts the localizing information that would otherwise be present in the scalp-recorded EEG, whereas much localizing information is preserved in the MEG record. For this reason, magnetic recording may be of significant value in localizing the source of signals produced by populations of nerve cells within the brain if its formidable technical problems can be resolved.Event-Related Potentials:An event-related potential (ERP) is a component of the EEG that is triggered in association with sensory , motor, or mental event. ERPs are used extensively to study the time course of higher-level processes in the human brain, such as perception and attention.ERPs are typically small fluctuations produced by the processing of a sensory stimulus or motor events. Microelectrode Recording:Microelectrodes are very small electrodes with very small tips that can be used to record the electrical activity of single nerve cells. The glass electrodes - called micropipettes - are made from glass tubing that is heated and stretched to narrow the width of the tube. The micropipette is then filled with a conductive solution such as potassium chloride.Microelectrodes may be used for either extracellular or intracellular recording. For extracellular recording, the electrode is placed near the nerve cell. In this position, it can measure the currents flowing from the nerve cell into the extracellular fluid that surrounds it. For intracellular recording, the microelectrode is inserted into the interior of the nerve cell itself. Patch Clamps:Nerve cells regulate their electrical activity by controlling small pores or channels in their outer membrane. A patch clamp is an adaption of the glass micropipette method in which a small amount of suction is applied to the fluid-filled recording electrode. If the tip of the electrode is placed on the outer surface of the cell membrane, a tight mechanical and electrical seal results. The result is that the electrode measures electrical current only from the portion of the membrane that is clamped to the electrode. In this way, the activity of individual membrane channels can be measured.