Book excerpt: IBRO Handbook Series: Methods in the Neurosciences, Volume 9 General Editor: A. D. Smith Advanced Micropipette Techniques for Cell Physiology Kenneth T. Brown and Dale G. Flaming With this Handbook Series, IBRO aims to fill a major gap in the world literature. The neuroscientist needs to be able to turn to whichever specialized method is most suited to the problem he is currently studying. Methods in the Neurosciences will help to provide expert advice on exactly how to carry out the experiments, on what difficulties can occur and on the limitations of the method. Fine glass micropipettes are extensively used in intra and extra-cellular physiology as a means of recording electrical activity in cells and as a way of injecting a variety of substances for experimental purposes. For the last 12 years the authors of this book have treated micropipette techniques as a research field in itself, and here present for the first time their theory of how micropipette tips are formed, their methods of reducing tip size, and the implications of their work for research on small cells of all kinds, especially cells within the central nervous system. The book not only incorporates this new work but reviews and analyses existing publications on micropipette methodology, including patch-clamping, in order to present as complete an account as possible of how micropipettes can be used efficiently and effectively in a wide variety of experimental situations.