Anytime we move our bodies, our brains put on a light show. However, seeing when and where neurons are firing often requires the subject of the picture to stay very still – which doesn’t give researchers a very accurate picture of what our brains do. Thanks to new imaging system designs, getting live videos of neurons at work just got easier. In designing a moveable microscopic camera, biomedical engineer Xingde Li, has created a way to image animal neurons while allowing its subject to move freely. This development will help future researchers study motor systems and other mechanisms in the brain in a more natural way.
Caption written by Haley Wasserman, Science Writing Intern for the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences.
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