▁Medicine ▁for ▁their ▁contribution ▁to ▁understanding ▁the ▁mechan isms ▁underlying ▁the ▁generation ▁of ▁action ▁potential s ▁in ▁neur ons . ▁Their ▁experiments ▁involved ▁int rac ell ular ▁record ings ▁from ▁the ▁giant ▁ax on ▁of ▁Atlantic ▁squ id ▁( L ol igo ▁pe ale i ), ▁and ▁were ▁among ▁the ▁first ▁applications ▁of ▁the ▁" vol t age ▁cl amp " ▁technique . ▁Today , ▁most ▁micro elect ro des ▁used ▁for ▁int rac ell ular ▁recording ▁are ▁glass ▁mic rop ip ettes , ▁with ▁a ▁tip ▁diameter ▁of ▁< ▁ 1 ▁mic rom et re , ▁and ▁a ▁resistance ▁of ▁several ▁meg oh ms . ▁The ▁mic rop ip ettes ▁are ▁filled ▁with ▁a ▁solution ▁that ▁has ▁a ▁similar ▁ion ic ▁composition ▁to ▁the ▁int rac ell ular ▁fluid ▁of ▁the ▁cell . ▁A ▁ch lor ided ▁silver ▁wire ▁inserted ▁into ▁the ▁pip et ▁connect s ▁the ▁electro ly te ▁elect r ically ▁to ▁the ▁ampl ifier ▁and ▁signal ▁processing ▁circuit . ▁The ▁voltage ▁measured ▁by ▁the ▁electro de ▁is ▁compared ▁to ▁the ▁voltage ▁of ▁a ▁reference ▁electro de , ▁usually ▁a ▁silver ▁ch lor ide - co ated ▁silver ▁wire ▁in ▁contact ▁with ▁the ▁ext rac ell ular ▁fluid ▁around ▁the ▁cell . ▁In ▁general , ▁the ▁smaller ▁the ▁electro de ▁tip , ▁the ▁higher ▁its ▁elect rical ▁resistance , ▁so ▁an ▁electro de ▁is ▁a ▁comprom ise ▁between ▁size ▁( small ▁enough ▁to ▁pen et rate ▁a ▁single ▁cell ▁with ▁minimum ▁damage ▁to ▁the ▁cell ) ▁and ▁resistance ▁( low