A new method for piercing the tentorium cerebelli for implanting fragile electrodes into the brain stem in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

Abstract

Recent developments in neuron recording techniques include the invention of some fragile electrodes. The fragility of these electrodes impedes their successful use in deep brain recordings because it is difficult to penetrate the electrodes through the dura mater, especially the tentorium cerebelli (TC) enclosing the cerebellum and brain stem. This paper reports a new method to pierce the TC for inserting fragile electrodes into the inferior colliculus of rhesus monkeys. Briefly, a unique tool kit, consisting of needles with sharp tips, a guide tube and an “impactor,” was used in a multistep protocol to pierce the TC. The impactor provided a brief force that quickly thrusts the needles through the meninges without causing significant damage to the brain tissue under the TC. Using this novel approach, tetrodes were successfully implanted into the inferior colliculus of a rhesus monkey and neuronal discharge signals were recorded. This method, which is simple, convenient and economical, allows neurophysiologists to study the electrophysiological characteristics of deep brain structures under the TC with advanced, albeit fragile, electrodes.