Brain illuminations

Researchers studying the brain have traditionally had images an animal staying still. Now, engineers can create images of an animal in motion with a small, lightweight microscope.

The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics’ researchers have developed a way of watching the activity of brain cells in an animal that is free to move around its environment.
 
The researchers in Tübingen, Germany, developed a miniature, lightweight laser-scanning microscope that could image activity from fluorescent neurons in moving animals. The imaging also worked while the exact position of the animal was tracked.
 
The microscope eliminated the need to insert electrodes into the brain, as previously occurred, as it uses a high-powered pulsing laser and fibre optics to scan cells below the surface.
 
"We need to let the animal behave as naturally as possible if we want to understand how its brain operates during interaction with complex environments. The new technology is a major milestone on the way to helping us understand how perception and attention work", said Jason Kerr, lead author of the study.

Inside view

Meet the Role Models involved in imaging for medical purposes. 
 
 
 

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