Scientists get insanely sharp images of the brains of mice

Scientists have been able to produce MRI images that are clearer than ever before. The results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences In the last month of March. This unprecedented level of detail could represent a breakthrough in the visualization of certain conditions affecting the brain.

Scientists report that the new images are 64 million times sharper than clinical MRIs. It turns out that, just as a 2D image can be reduced to pixels, an MRI can be reduced to 3D pixels. With the new technology, each voxel is 64 million times smaller than we’ve seen before, measuring just 5 micrometers.

After the MRI was completed, the tissues were also imaged using a complementary method called optical sheet microscopy. Overlaying the two images allowed the team to visualize the internal wiring and connections within the brain.

The group argues that being able to view brain tissue in this way has the potential to revolutionize the way we study the central nervous system.

The study could also drive changes in the way we look at neurodegenerative diseases, through changes in brain connectivity as the mouse ages, mapping how some regions change more than others. In rodents with Alzheimer’s disease, for example, this technique makes it possible to elucidate the breakdown of neural networks.

Brain studies in rodents

It is very common for the scientific community to conduct brain studies on rodents. In 2021, to investigate the processes that lead to age-related memory loss, British researchers tested a new treatment on mice and succeeded in the experiment. In the study, the team used a virus — with viral vector technology, the same used in some vaccines against COVID-19.

In 2022, a study “overwintered” the brain of rodents with human brain cells, looking for ways to expand the study of neurological conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia.

source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences via IFL Science