Andy Coghlan, reporter
Ever wondered what's going on in the brain of a mouse? Now brain
cells have been captured sending and receiving signals in high
resolution for the first time, essentially showing its brain in action.
To make the tiniest anatomical details of neurons visible, Katrin Willig
and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in
Göttingen, Germany, gave mice an extra gene that generates a yellow
glow. When their brains were viewed with a special microscope through a
glass-sealed window in the skull, the signal junctions in neurons lit
up. At these intersections, tiny spines sprout from longer branching
fibers, called dendrites, and exchange signals by linking up with
spines on neighbouring cells.
The movie spans a 20 to 30 minute
period, during which a live mouse was anaesthetised. The spines
physically move and wobble at the top and base as they form and break
connections with neighbouring spines. "There are always connections
breaking and forming and it's the natural movement of the spine," says
Willig. "It may be the mouse thinking".
Brain cells have been imaged in live animals before, but the latest movie is the first to reveal parts of neurons in such fine detail - down to a resolution of 70 nanometers.
According
to Willig, the breakthrough should enable researchers to investigate
the faulty connectivity that arises in a mouse brain when it's affected
with a version of a human disease, such as dementia. Although the
current images show the surface of the cerebral cortex, an area of the
brain that controls movement, Willig claims that it may be possible to
penetrate deeper. This would allow implants to be developed, enabling
the spines to be viewed while the animal is conscious and mobile.
If you enjoyed this video, check out a worm's brain imaged in 3D or watch a human brain fire up during female orgasm.
Journal reference: Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1215369
http://www.newscientist.com/
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