Stainless Steel Electrodes from Advent in Hippocampal Plasticity and Schizophrenia Research
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Researchers at the University of Manchester used Advent stainless steel wire to build stimulating electrodes for in vivo hippocampal recordings in rats.
Their work examines how hippocampal circuits change in a sub‑chronic PCP model of cognitive impairment relevant to schizophrenia, driven by NMDA receptor hypofunction, and how those changes may be improved by interventions such as exercise.
Advent Research Materials supplied the twisted, Teflon‑insulated stainless steel wires used as bipolar stimulating electrodes in the hippocampus.
The science made simple
The hippocampus is a brain region that helps form and recall memories.
One way to study its function is to see how strongly groups of neurons respond when another brain area is stimulated.
In this project:
- Rats received a drug regimen that disrupts NMDA receptor function, creating a widely used model of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia research.
- Electrodes were implanted so that small electrical pulses could be delivered into a hippocampal pathway while activity was recorded downstream.
- By tracking how responses changed over time, the team assessed synaptic plasticity, including long term potentiation (LTP), a common experimental read‑out for learning and memory.
- Plasticity was compared between drug‑treated and control animals, and the study also tested how exercise and memory tasks related to changes in hippocampal activity.
Why hippocampal plasticity matters in cognitive impairment
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with cognitive deficits that remain difficult to treat.
A large body of work links these problems to NMDA receptor hypofunction in hippocampal circuits, where synaptic plasticity and network coordination support memory; this thesis uses sub‑chronic PCP (scPCP) to model that hypofunction and to test whether voluntary exercise can partly restore hippocampal function.
This thesis brings several elements together:
- A sub‑chronic PCP (scPCP) rat model that disrupts NMDA receptor function.
- Behavioural tests of recognition memory.
- Detailed recordings of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and oscillatory activity, including theta–gamma coupling during memory tasks in awake animals.
Together, the work gives a richer view of how hippocampal circuits behave in this model and provides a platform for testing possible interventions.
For Advent Research Materials, it is a clear example of stainless steel wire performing reliably in demanding in vivo electrophysiology, where stable stimulation and reproducible electrode behaviour are essential.
Building hippocampal stimulating electrodes with Advent stainless steel wire
The stimulating electrodes used in this project were made from a pair of twisted, Teflon‑insulated stainless steel wires with a diameter of 125 μm, supplied by Advent Research Materials.
Key technical features:
- Geometry: bipolar twisted pair, to focus current and reduce noise.
- Material: stainless steel, chosen for mechanical strength, biocompatibility and stable electrochemical behaviour in brain tissue.
- Size: fine wire (125 μm) suitable for stereotaxic placement into specific hippocampal pathways such as CA3 to CA1.
The electrodes delivered controlled current pulses into CA3, while silicon probes recorded field potentials across CA1 and dentate gyrus.
From an applications point of view, this is a textbook use case for Advent stainless steel wire in:
- Acute in vivo hippocampal recordings.
- Chronic implants in awake, freely moving animals.
- Studies where both synaptic plasticity and network‑level activity are of interest.
What the study adds for neuroscientists
Several points stand out for readers in neuroscience and preclinical pharmacology:
- The work reports impaired LTP with relatively preserved short‑term plasticity in the scPCP model, supporting its use for studying cognitive impairment.
- It links these synaptic changes to alterations in hippocampal network dynamics and theta–gamma coupling during a recognition memory task.
- It shows that interventions such as exercise can partly improve both behaviour and hippocampal function.
All of this depends on reliable stimulation and recording of hippocampal pathways in vivo, where micro‑scale electrode geometry and material choice are critical.
Advent Research Materials and advanced in vivo electrophysiology
This project highlights how Advent products support:
- Custom stimulating electrode builds using stainless steel wire.
- Electrophysiology labs that need consistent, high‑purity wire for precise stereotaxic work.
- Longer‑term studies where stable performance over repeated sessions matters, such as awake recordings and exercise protocols.
Researchers working on:
- NMDA receptor function
- Models of schizophrenia and cognitive impairment
- Memory and synaptic plasticity
- Exercise and brain plasticity
can adopt similar electrode designs using Advent-sourced stainless steel wire for hippocampal and cortical studies.
Working with Advent Research Materials
Advent Research Materials supplies stainless steel wires and other metals in the small quantities and sizes needed for neuroscience, electrophysiology and biomedical engineering.
If your lab is planning in vivo stimulation or recording experiments and needs:
- Fine‑diameter stainless steel wire for custom electrodes
- Alternative materials or diameters for specific protocols
- Reliable traceability and specifications for regulatory or grant reporting
the Advent team can help you select suitable products and delivery formats.
Read the full study
This doctoral work by Ningyuan Sun at the University of Manchester investigated hippocampal synaptic plasticity and network dynamics in a sub‑chronic PCP rat model of NMDA receptor hypofunction.
Sun N. Memory‑Related Synaptic and Oscillatory Alterations in the Hippocampus of a Rat Model for Schizophrenia. PhD thesis, University of Manchester, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Neuroscience, 2025.
Read the thesis in full here