Laser-induced withdrawal test for electrophysiological recordings of nociception

Yu Chieh Kao, Fu Shan Jaw*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

CO 2 lasers are often used in pain research. However, the stimulation parameters of the CO 2 lasers, such as beam diameter, laser power, etc., used for these animal nociceptive studies vary across laboratories. The differences of the parameters usually make novices who want to reproduce the laser-evoked responses confused to follow. In this study, we quantitatively measured the laser-withdrawal reflex of the rat to ascertain the individual laser-withdrawal threshold and then found the thresholds were diverse among the rats we adopted. Furthermore, the optimal stimulation distance, the most conveniently modified stimulation parameter of CO 2 laser stimuli, was also determined. We suggest that laser-withdrawal tests should be applied before the electrophysiological recordings in order to verify the efficiency of the induced nociception and substantiate the operational parameters of the CO 2 laser device.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)79-83
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
Volume198
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2012

Keywords

  • CO lasers
  • Hind paw
  • Laser-withdrawal threshold
  • Rat
  • Stimulation parameter

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