A method for acute cerebral cortex recordings using the Utah Intracortical Electrode Array

The Utah Intracortical Electrode Array is a unique three-dimensional silicon-based device originally designed to be used as a chronic multichannel interface to the central nervous system. We describe herein a method that can be used in acute experiments that allows for direct and easy access to each of the 100 electrodes in the array. This technique has been employed successfully for acute recordings of stimulus correlated clusters of neural activity in the visual and auditory cortices of cats. Our data indicate that this recording method, and the unique 3D architecture of the electrode array makes it well suited for recording neural activity during acute neurophysiological experimentation.