16 March 2014

Seeing Brain Neurons

A study conducted by local high school students and faculty from the Department of Computer and Information Science in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis reveals new information about the motor circuits of the brain that may one day help those developing therapies to treat conditions such as stroke, schizophrenia, spinal cord injury or Alzheimer's disease. MRI and CAT scans of the human brain can tell us many things about the structure of this most complicated of organs, formed of trillions of neurons and the synapses via which they communicate. But we are a long way away from having imaging techniques that can show single neurons in a complex brain like the human brain.


Using computer vision and image processing, researchers were able to visualize and process actual neurons of model organisms. Their work in the brain of a model organism will help researchers move forward to more complex organisms with the ultimate goal of reconstructing the human central nervous system to gain insight into what goes wrong at the cellular level when devastating disorders of the brain and spinal cord occur. This understanding may ultimately inform the treatment of these conditions. In this study, which processed images and reconstructed neuronal motor circuitry in the brain, researchers collected and analyzed data on minute structures over various developmental stages, efforts linking neuroscience and computer science.

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