The first video recording of the activity of neurons of the whole brain
Scientists have filmed the brain of an aquarium fish
The researchers published the results of their work in Nature Methods (Misha B Ahrens & Philipp J Keller, Whole-brain functional imaging at cellular resolution using light-sheet microscopy). A review of the article (Flashing fish brains filmed in action) leads Nature.
Neuroscientist Misha Ahrens and microscopist Phillip Keller from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute were able to obtain a series of images showing the firing of neurons in the brain of a genetically modified fish. For the first time, scientists were able to simultaneously record the work of 80 percent of the neurons of the vertebrate brain.
Changes in the genes of ordinary danio rerio allowed to capture the firing of neurons. In specially bred fish, neurons produce a protein that becomes fluorescent (glowing when irradiated with light with a certain wavelength), depending on changes in the concentration of calcium ions – a sign of neuron activity.
The danio rerio fish were chosen for the experiment because the bodies of their embryos are transparent during the maturation period. To achieve the maximum resolution of the resulting image, scientists irradiated the fish not with a continuous light stream, but with a scanning strip. The full scan period was 1.3 seconds.
As stated in an interview with neuroscientist Joseph Fetcho, obtaining a picture of this quality will allow you to study in more detail the processes occurring in the brain during movement, learning, visual and olfactory perception.
In February 2013, the results of another brain study were published, which used danio rerio fish. Then scientists were able to track the activity in various areas of the fry's brain during the hunting process.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.03.2013