The slow cortical oscillation is the major brain rhythm occurring during sleep, and has been the object of thorough investigation for over thirty years. Despite all these efforts, the function and the neuronal mechanisms behind slow cortical rhythms remain only partially understood. In this review we will provide an overview of the techniques available for the in vivo study of slow cortical oscillations in animal models. Our goal is to provide an up to date resource for the selection of the best experimental strategies to study specific aspects of slow oscillations. We will cover both traditional, population-level electrophysiological approaches (electroencephalography - EEG, local field potentials) as well as more recent techniques, such as two photon calcium imaging and optogenetics. Overall, we believe that new breakthroughs in our understanding of slow cortical rhythms will require the integration of different techniques, to bridge the gap between different spatio-temporal scales and go from a correlative to a causal level of analysis.

中文翻译：

---

缓慢的皮质节律：从单神经元电生理到体内全脑成像。

缓慢的皮层振荡是睡眠中发生的主要脑节律，并且三十多年来一直是彻底研究的对象。尽管做出了所有这些努力，但缓慢的皮质节律背后的功能和神经元机制仍然只有部分被了解。在这篇综述中，我们将概述可用于动物模型中缓慢皮质振荡的体内研究的技术。我们的目标是为选择最佳的实验策略提供最新资源，以研究慢速振荡的特定方面。我们将介绍传统的人口级电生理方法（脑电图-EEG，局部场电势）以及最新技术，例如两次光子钙成像和光遗传学。全面的，