This technique measures action potentials, generated from olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), through a single sensilla on an insects' antennae.
The main goal of this is to restrain the insect and prevent any movement from interfering with the recording quality.
[3] In order to record, a location as close to the sensilla (usually the eye) is penetrated with a ground electrode.
These electrodes are typically made of tungsten or glass and are chemically sharpened to ensure precise penetration of their target locations.
At this point, action potentials should be easy to distinguish from background noise; however, if the signal strength is weak one can replace the electrodes.