Brain and Nerve Cells (IMAGE)
Caption
Left is an image of a cross-section through the whole mammalian brain that shows both brain hemispheres (solid white outline) as well as the overlaying cerebral cortex which is made up of many layers (I-VI). On the right hemisphere are brain cells, neurons, labeled with a genetically encoded fluorescent marker that reports back the cells activity by fast changes in brightness. This image has been taken from a brain slice post mortem where the lower limit of the cortex can be seen (dotted white line). Right, this image shows the same deep layer V brain cells (red box) labeled with the genetically encoded fluorescent marker but actually imaged noninvasively from a living animal using a modified multi-photon microscope, or RAMM approach. This allows scientists to study activity in neuronal populations deep in the cortex of an awake behaving animal and will lead to a deeper understanding of how cortical networks perform computations.
Credit
Wolfgang Mittmann, Jason Kerr / Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
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