This is the most detailed image ever taken of a brain – 64 million times sharper than current technology allows.
The picture was taken of a mouse brain using a high-powered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device with an unprecedented level of detail.
Scientists have yet to repeat the highly detailed scans on human brains, which could in the future help doctors detect diseases earlier and patients survive longer.
They hope the scans of mice will pave the way for breakthroughs in the treatment and progression of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Scientists were able to produce the rainbow-colored peek inside the neural networks of mice of varying ages and genetic makeups using extremely strong magnets
The scientists produced MRI scans that were a staggering 64 million times clearer than can currently be achieved in hospitals.
While MRI scans are crucial to the diagnosis of potentially deadly conditions such as brain tumors, they cannot currently go into microscopic detail.
After completing an MRI scan on a mouse’s brain in exquisite detail, scientists produced another image using a method known as light sheet microscopy. This allowed the team to visualize the internal structure and connections within the brain in technicolor detail.
The scans have so far only been performed on mice, but the scientists behind the innovation are optimistic that the technology could be integral to tracking age-related changes in human brains, possibly leading to new breakthrough treatments.
The team was led by researchers at the Center for In Vivo Microscopy at Duke University and is the culmination of four decades of research.
The colorful scans show changes in the brain’s connections as it ages. They also illustrate how specific regions of the brain – such as the memory-involved subiculum – change more than the rest of the mouse’s brain.
The report detailing the scans’ findings was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr G. Allan Johnson the lead author of the new paper said: ‘It is something that is truly enabling. We can start looking at neurodegenerative diseases in an entirely different way.’
The scientists were able to produce the rainbow-colored peek inside the neural networks of mice of varying ages and genetic makeups using extremely strong magnets, far stronger than those that are typically used in an MRI machine.
Most of the machines in use across the US use 1.5 to 3 Tesla magnets. Tesla is the unit of measurement of the total magnetic field which passes through a given area and the higher the Tesla score, the stronger the magnet.
The researchers behind the latest scans employed a 9.4 Tesla magnet as well as a special set of gradient coils 100 times stronger than those in clinical MRI machines.
To help generate the brain image they used a high-performance computer equivalent to nearly 800 laptops all working at once to image one brain.
After they completed the MRI scan, scientists performed light sheet microscopy on the brain tissue sample, enabling them to label specific groups of cells in the brain and monitor them for changes or progression in neurodegenerative disease over time.
The images were also able to capture how Alzheimer’s disease breaks down neural networks.
The applications of the high-powered MRI technology could be wide-ranging, helping doctors diagnose cancers and neurological diseases before it’s too late.
News
Stem cell organoids repair heart microvessels in coronary artery disease models
A Stanford University team has shown that vascular organoids derived from human stem cells can repair the heart’s microvessel network in pigs with ischaemic heart disease – a proof-of-concept advancement that could open new therapeutic [...]
Goodbye GP waiting rooms, hello prevention at home
Prevention is suddenly everywhere in NHS reform. The recent £340m community pharmacy deal is moving more services onto the high street. Community Diagnostic Centres are being expanded, and the Neighbourhood Health Framework sets out [...]
Ebola control is weakened by mistrust and cultural insensitivity
Effective response depends on cooperation with communities and frontline workers, writes Zaeem ul Haq The current Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda is exposing dangerous gaps in [...]
Building the Brain Requires Millions of Dangerous DNA Breaks
Scientists discovered that building a healthy brain involves an unexpected step: young neurons routinely break and rapidly repair their own DNA. As the brain develops, newly formed nerve cells must travel through tightly packed tissue [...]
One Tiny Change May Explain How Viruses Jump From Bats to Humans
Scientists found that one tiny genetic change may determine whether a bat virus stays in bats or becomes a human threat. Most infectious disease outbreaks begin when a virus or other pathogen crosses from animals into [...]
Scientists Discover 250+ Genes That Could Lead to New Ways To Prevent Melanoma
The world’s largest study of mole genetics identified hundreds of genes tied to melanoma risk, uncovering potential new drug targets and paving the way for more accurate melanoma screening and prevention. Researchers at QIMR [...]
Breakthrough Diabetes Treatment Reprograms the Immune System
An engineered stem cell therapy reversed new-onset Type 1 diabetes in mice by shifting the immune system away from attacking insulin-producing cells. For more than a century, people with Type 1 diabetes have relied [...]
Taking the world’s temperature: WHO chief spotlights global health emergencies
Taking the world’s temperature on pressing health matters, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus provided the latest on current global challenges - and successes when it comes to international cooperation. “The outbreaks of hantavirus, Ebola and Marburg all show [...]
Scientists Create Tiny “Mini Livers” That Could One Day Replace Liver Transplants
Engineered tissue grafts could help perform key liver functions and benefit thousands of people living with liver failure. The liver is one of the body’s hardest-working organs, carrying out hundreds of vital jobs, from [...]
NanoMedical Brain/Cloud Interface – Explorations and Implications. A new book from Frank Boehm
New book from Frank Boehm, NanoappsMedical Inc Founder: This book explores the future hypothetical possibility that the cerebral cortex of the human brain might be seamlessly, safely, and securely connected with the Cloud via [...]
Scientists Discover Surprising Way To Help the Brain Recover After Stroke
A new study suggests that strengthening the body’s natural circadian rhythms may help the brain recover after stroke, even when treatment begins days after the injury. Every year, millions of people survive a stroke, [...]
Our books now available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
Younger Generations Are Aging Faster – and It May Be Fueling a Surge in Cancer
Younger generations may be aging biologically faster than those before them, and that shift could help explain rising rates of cancer at younger ages. For decades, cancer was viewed largely as a disease of [...]
Using Cannabis Could Raise Your Stroke Risk by 37%, Massive Study Reveals
Large-scale evidence suggests cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamines may directly raise stroke risk, including in younger adults. As recreational drug use becomes increasingly common, researchers are uncovering evidence that its health consequences may extend far beyond [...]
Could Vitamin C Be the Secret to Keeping Your Brain Younger?
Lower vitamin C levels were linked to reduced brain volume and weaker neural connectivity in older adults, suggesting a potential connection between nutrition and brain health. Could a common vitamin help preserve the brain [...]
This Deadly Disease Was Wiping Out Humans 5,500 Years Ago
A new study suggests plague was already a deadly threat 5,500 years ago, striking small hunter-gatherer communities long before cities and agriculture emerged. For centuries, plague has been remembered as the disease that devastated [...]
