SfN 2008: The $100 Spike

As I stumbled back deep into the UU section (the end) of the afternoon SfN poster session in search of coffee, I noticed a bit of a crowd surrounding a poster board, in rapt attention. As I approached they started laughing and clapping. This is unusual. There is rarely a crowd back in the History / Teaching (and now Ethics) section of the poster sessions.
I decided to investigate.

Marzullo and Gage (Large Midwestern Research University) presented a poster describing their efforts to develop a protocol for studying neuronal activity on a budget…

When one thinks of electrophysiology, one normally envisions sophisticated panels of glowing LEDs on complex recording equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars. But does this necessarily need to be the case? Does electrophysiology really need to be out of reach of the amateur or budget-restricted scientist? What if you were to leave your lab tomorrow? What if the zombie apocalypse happened, you somehow survived, and you still wanted to do neuroscience?

..a very tight budget.