New Technique Provides High-Resolution Map of Brain Neural Connections
Researchers from TU Delft, Jülich, and Stanford have made significant progress in mapping the complex network of nerve fibers in the brain using a technique called Scattering Light Imaging (SLI). This cost-effective method combines light and X-ray scattering with MRI to discern nerve fiber trajectories, even in regions with highly entangled fibers. The SLI technique offers higher resolution and faster results compared to existing methods like diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS).
Understanding the intricate wiring of nerve fibers in the brain is crucial for gaining insight into brain function and dysfunction. The brain’s different areas are connected through billions of these nerve fibers, which are only about a micrometer thin. Disentangling these fibers has been a challenge for imaging techniques, especially in densely packed regions with interwoven fibers.
Assistant Professor Miriam Menzel from TU Delft developed the SLI technique to address this challenge. By shining light under various angles through hair-thin brain slices and analyzing the resulting scattering patterns, the researchers can determine how the nerve fibers are wired. This method offers a way to map neural connections in detail.
Compared to more established techniques like SAXS and dMRI, SLI proves to be more accessible, cheaper, and faster. SLI data are consistent with SAXS and dMRI results, but the SLI technique provides higher resolution. The researchers can perform SLI measurements using a simple LED light source and camera, making it a portable system that could be set up in pathology laboratories to assist clinical research.
SLI also enables microscopic resolution, allowing researchers to discern individual pathways in dense brain structures with entangled or interwoven nerve fibers. Two-dimensional fiber orientations can be determined with high precision.
Moving forward, Menzel and her team plan to further develop the SLI technique and explore its applications for other types of fibers, such as muscle and collagen fibers. They aim to create a small and portable system that can be deployed in various labs, with the hope of eventually applying the technique in clinical settings.
The research, titled “Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI,” was published in the journal eLife.
Reference: “Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI” by Miriam Menzel, David Gräßel, Ivan Rajkovic, Michael M Zeineh, and Marios Georgiadis, 11 May 2023, eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.84024.