Neuron Reconstruction

Using Neurolucida, microscopy, and mice genetically engineered to express a random amount of red, yellow, and blue fluorescent proteins, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology researcher Hermina Nedelescu has created a fascinating and hypnotic movie of neurons. Nedelescu and colleagues at the Institute's Computational Neuroscience Unit used Neurolucida and its Virtual Tissue 3D Extension Module and Montaging tools to acquire and stitch together multiple images of Purkinje cells—large neurons  that...

A willowy pair of pyramidal cells engage in an intricate dance with a dense mass of basket cells on the cover of the September 14, 2011 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.   This exquisite image illustrates recent work by Columbia University researchers Dr. Adam M. Packer and Dr. Rafael Yuste, who used Neurolucida to study circuit connectivity in the mammalian neocortex.   According to the paper "Successfully filled...

No two trees are exactly alike, in the forest or in the brain. Though despite the diversity of dendritic arborizations, when it comes to branching out different types of neurons do have a couple things in common, say researchers at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Japan.   Led by longtime MBF Bioscience customer Dr. Yoshiyuki Kubota, the research team identified two organizational principles common...

When Pavlov's dogs started salivating in response to a ringing bell, something happened in their brains—a memory was encoded. Over a century later scientists are still figuring out how memories are physically represented in the brain. One lingering question has been whether or not the same set of neurons is activated when a particular memory is formed. Researchers at the Johnson Lab at the Uniformed...

Birds and mammals hear binaurally, hearing sounds through two ears. Binaural hearing allows them to determine which direction a sound came from—a pivotal element of survival.   Doctors Armin H. Seidl, Edwin W. Rubel, and David M. Harris of Seattle’s Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington recently published a study in the Journal of Neuroscience that may encourage scientists to think in...