Subsecond voltametric separation between dopamine and serotonin in the presence of ascorbate

Although voltammetry has proved an important tool for unraveling the dynamics of specific neurotransmitter molecules during the past decade, it has been very difficult to monitor more than one neurotransmitter simultaneously. In this work, we present a voltammetric methodology that allows discrimination between dopamine and serotonin, two important neurotransmitter molecules with very similar electrochemical properties, in the presence of high concentrations of ascorbate. We combined the application of a novel large-amplitude/high-frequency voltage excitation with signal processing techniques valid for the analysis of nonstationary and nonlinear phenomena. This allows us to minimize the contribution from capacitance and preserve the faradaic features of the voltammetric response providing us with excellent voltammetric detail. Using appropriate voltage excitation parameters and defining specific regions in the voltage space, so-called voltage windows, we can measure the concentrations of dopamine and serotonin separately or independently in mixed solutions even in the presence of high concentrations of ascorbate. Because of the enhanced voltammetric detail of this new technique, it is also possible to explore effects attributed to interfacial phenomena such as adsorption/desorption and electrode fouling.