American scientists use new imaging techniques to create stunning 3D images of the brain that show individual nerve cells with unprecedented precision. These 3D images are synthesized from a series of high resolution images that can be displayed in parts per million to nanometers.
The researchers hope that these images will reveal abnormal connections in the brain cells of patients with neurological disorders such as two-way affective disorder or depression.
The top panel is a top-dimensional dendrite of a three-dimensional reconstruction of the cell body surrounding all cells. These are all extensions of a short-branched nerve cell that is sent to the cell body by pulses received by other cells.
The first author of the study, Associate Professor Narayanan Kasthuri of Boston University School of Medicine, said that the complexity of the brain is far beyond our imagination. We have a clear understanding of how neurons connect to each other, but when you see the real microworld, that's not the case.
The study overturns a long-standing hypothesis, "Peter's Law," that if two neurons are close to each other, they are likely to form synapses for communication.
Kasthuri said that this law seems reasonable, but the opposite is true, at least in the mouse brain to receive information from the whisker tactile information is contrary to the law. The fact that two neurons are together does not mean that they communicate.
Traditional brain imaging techniques, including MRI intelligence, provide millimeter-level resolution. The latest imaging technology system, developed by patented hardware (developed by Kasthuri and Harvard scientists), can slice and photograph brain samples, and software, which analyzes image data. The patented hardware is called the automatic take-up ultra-thin slicer (ATUM).
The top image shows synapses connected to the dendrites (the red area in the center), and the white dots represent synaptic vesicles in the axons.
ATUM used a diamond knife to slice the stain-embedded brain samples to a thickness of 30 nm, and then collected electron micrographs of the sections.
Scientists use the VAST project to analyze data and produce vivid color images of neurons at a single synaptic level. VAST was developed in collaboration with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The cost and data storage requirements of the study are high, but scientists expect that costs will gradually decrease over time, just like gene sequencing .
The picture above shows a high-resolution image of adjacent neurons, one green and one blue. In the digital region, yellow represents the synaptic cleft, where neurons can communicate with each other through neurotransmitters.
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