Synapse formation in dissociated cell cultures of embryonic chick cerebral neurons.

The development of synapses was confirmed in the primary cultures of dissociated cerebral cortex neurons from chick embryos. Whole-cell patch clamp recording applied to dissociated neurons from 6- to 12-day-old embryos revealed that these neurons form functional synapses. In these cultures, both excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic responses were observed. Synaptogenesis in our cultures seemed to be in proportion to the embryonic equivalent days, which are the sum of the days in incubation and culture.