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As an electrophysiologist, your patience is quite sometimes put to the test. “Yes, that is a characteristic of electrophysiologists, you have to be very patient and keep trying, always keep trying”, says Dr. Henk Karst. So, what is the secret behind this inexhaustible drive?

Dr. Henk Karst, senior investigator at the UMC department of translational neuroscience, has been working with electrophysiology for almost thirty years. “It actually started by chance,” Henk explains. “After an internship on neuroanatomy, I was asked for a follow-up study with electrophysiology”. Nowadays, Henk is investigating the effects of early life stress on the development and electrophysiological properties of neurons.

As the name suggests, electrophysiology is about measuring the electrical properties of a cell. Brain slices are viewed under a microscope and a thin electrode is moved towards an individual living cell. “Once you made good contact between the electrode and the inside of a cell, you can give the cell a certain voltage or current, stimulate it and measure all kinds of things”.

“It is a fantastic technique,” Henk says, “Electrophysiology is a method in which you can directly see the effects. I still love to see that. Every time I have a cell on the electrode, it is fantastic to see that it lives.”

Electrophysiology is a method in which you can directly see the effects. I still love to see that. Every time I have a cell on the electrode, it is fantastic to see that it lives.

Yet there are also frustrations, especially for starting electrophysiologists. “Well, the is just a very difficult technique. You have to develop a feeling for the material, and always stay alert and focused. At 400 times magnification, it’s already a challenge to visualize your electrode under the microscope and move it towards a cell. On top of that, the electrode needs to make very close contact with the cell, so every little bit of dirt or dust that touches the tip of the electrode can ruin the try”.

Even after thirty years, it can be disappointing: “Sometimes you have those days that it just doesn’t work out at all. And well, that feels terrible, if you have been messing around all day and haven’t measured anything. Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often to me, but once in a while it can occur”. 

In the end, Henk is doing it for the result, to find things that help to unravel a certain mechanism. “Sometimes you find really special things. That happens a few times in your life and can be very exciting of course”.

Electrophysiology is not just following the recipe, it’s more like an art. Perhaps that is the best thing about it… that it’s an art.

Henk’s advice to anyone still hesitating to start with electrophysiology: “Don’t be scared by the equipment, it’s not that complicated, it’s really a fantastic method. It’s like learning to play a musical instrument: you’ll develop a feeling for it and get better and better. Electrophysiology is not just following the recipe, it’s more like an art. Perhaps that is the best thing about it… that it’s an art”.