Table 1:

Comparison of using electrical, optical, and chemical manipulation and recording of neuronal activity.

Modality	Spatial resolution	Temporal resolution	Sensitivity	Selectivity
Electrical stimulation	Limited by current spreading and electrode dimensions	Sub-microsecond	Highly tunable	Limited ‒all cells surrounding probe experience field
Electrical recording	<10 μm	Sub-microsecond	>10 μV	Limited - pharmacology required to determine contributors to current
Optical stimulation	Single cell optical stimulation144	Sub-microsecond	Highly tunable by irradiation power, wavelength, etc.	High; only light-sensitive reporters will respond
Optical recording	Single cell145	Sub-microsecond; can record single action potentials	Limited by available reporters	High; selective biosensors for neurotransmitters and analytes have been developed
FSCV	>100 μm limited by large devices required	≥100 ms	Can detect electroactive molecules over large concentration range	Moderate; care must be taken to validate electrochemical signatures of recording
Microdialysis	>150 μm limited by large size of probes	Seconds to minutes	Sensitivity towards a large range of analytes	High; defined by high- resolution chemical analytics89
Chemical stimulation	Limited by diffusion	Seconds to minutes; dictated by diffusion and metabolism	Moderate; tunable through dose applied	High; can be fine-tuned using synthetic chemistry
Chemical recording	Single-cell109	Sub-microsecond110	Excellent; can be fine-tuned using synthetic chemistry	High ‒ can be fine-tuned using synthetic chemistry