# The Virtual Science Lab - Defining Cell Types by their Electrophysiology Q&A **URL:** \ **Category:** Show & Tell\ **Tags:** atlas-cell-types, education, training\ **Created:** [November 13, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/the-virtual-science-lab-defining-cell-types-by-their-electrophysiology-q-a/782 "2020-11-13T00:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaitlync](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@kaitlync](https://community.brain-map.org/u/kaitlync)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/the-virtual-science-lab-defining-cell-types-by-their-electrophysiology-q-a/782/1 "2020-11-13T00:09:38Z")
Thanks for attending the webinar or viewing the video of “The Virtual Lab: Defining Cell Types by their Electrophysiology” with @ajuavinett and @tmchartrand! This webinar demonstrated a lesson plan for college neuroscience classes that uses Allen Cell Types Database data. Please feel free to chime in here with additional questions or follow-ups, and to continue the conversation more generally here in this thread. You can find the recording of this webinar and information about upcoming webinars at [alleninstitute.org/virtual-lab-webinars](https://alleninstitute.org/about/education-outreach/virtual-science-lab-webinars/). ---
**Author:** ![kaitlync](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@kaitlync](https://community.brain-map.org/u/kaitlync)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/the-virtual-science-lab-defining-cell-types-by-their-electrophysiology-q-a/782/2 "2020-11-13T00:14:38Z")
**Question:** Is there is glossary/legend that go along with the cell feature search page? Thanks! For example, explains what the abbreviations are? Kaitlyn: We do! At the top of the Cell Feature Search page, click help. It’ll pop up a window with a list of the abbreviations and brief definitions. You can also go there directly with this [link](https://help.brain-map.org/display/celltypes/Physiology+and+Morphology). Ashley: Here’s an [additional glossary](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YGLwkMTebwrXd_1E817LFbztMjSTCWh83Mlp3_3ZMEo/edit?usp=sharing) for some of the pre-computed features that we’ll see in the notebook today. Tom: And the most detailed definitions are in our white papers available [here](http://help.brain-map.org/display/celltypes/Documentation), or of course in the feature extraction code and its documentation. **Question:** Are all recordings done in current clamp? Or do you have mIPSC and mEPSC data? Tom: The IVSCC is primarily in current clamp, with synaptic blockers (there may be a few voltage clamp sweeps, but primarily for QC, not feature extraction). However, we have a whole synaptic physiology project focused on this [here](https://portal.brain-map.org/explore/connectivity/synaptic-physiology). These cells do have a shorter set of intrinsic electrophysiology characterization, in addition to recorded PSP/PSCs from spikes triggered in other cells that are being patched simultaneously! **Question:** Can you tell us a bit about the decision making process for picking 1 s long current steps as the default? I’m curious as I could easily make that the default duration in my future recordings. Tom: I can’t give you a complete answer as this was before I arrived here, but it’s an attempt to balance overall recording duration with enough time to see delayed spikes (suprathreshold) and for all channels to equilibrate (subthreshold). If you want a super detailed answer from some electrophysiologists our Community Forum (that’s here!) would be a good place to bring it up! **Question:** Are there morphoelectrical/transcriptomic data on astrocytes and microglial Kaitlyn: We do have transcriptomic data on astrocytes/microglia! It’s mixed in with the neuronal transcriptomic data. You can find the transcriptomic data [here](https://portal.brain-map.org/atlases-and-data/rnaseq). We don’t have morphology or ephys on the non-neuronal cells. **Question:** Coursera also offers nice coding courses. Also comp neuro for grad students or postdocs where they incorporate some Matlab and Python training. Kaitlyn: Good recommendations! We love when students can see the applications of code when they learn by doing analyses, but online resources are really valuable for learning the language. Ashley: Yes! I also have my students use [dataquest.io](http://dataquest.io) for introductory lessons. For more advanced lessons, I’d recommend [Neuromatch Academy.](https://github.com/NeuromatchAcademy/course-content) **Question:** New to google Colab: if students leave this page from their browser, does it clear all their work? Thanks! Ashley: Yes, but they can create their own copy of the notebook and update/save that permanently. Instructions: 1) File \> Save. 2) Go to Google Drive \> Colab Notebooks folder. 3) Re-open the file with Google Colab! **Question** : Where can we find information about the location of the cell during the recording (e.g., region, layer, position on the CCF, etc.) Kaitlyn: This is included in the cell metadata! It should be pulled in when you create that dataframe or view the data on our website. Please feel free to post additional/follow-up questions below!