Implant for Reliable Diaphragm EMG Recordings in Awake, Behaving Rats

Breathing is a neuromuscular process that has been historically difficult to study in animal models. Typically, electromyography (EMG) or other approaches to record from respiratory muscles are conducted while the subject is under anesthesia, which limits our understanding of these processes during awake states. To address this limitation, Taylor Holmes and Jesus Penaloza-Aponte, and colleagues from the University of Florida and Marquette University, have developed a chronic implant for EMG recordings in the diaphragm of freely behaving rats. The implant is low cost and takes only 1 hour to build, and the group has demonstrated the success and reliability of these implants in publications (Malone et al., 2022; Holmes et al., 2024). Their recent eNeuro publication provides full documentation on how to build and use these implants in your own research.

This research tool was created by your colleagues. Please acknowledge the Principal Investigator, cite the article in which the tool was described, and include an RRID in the Materials and Methods of your future publications. RRID:SCR_026968