BREAKTHROUGH IN BRAIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY PROMISES INSIGHTS INTO MEMORY FORMATION
In a major breakthrough, researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have developed a novel brain imaging system that can capture activity from 10,000 to 20,000 neurons simultaneously. This remarkable feat will provide unprecedented insights into how memories are made and lost, potentially revolutionizing the study of memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
The current brain imaging technology is limited in its ability to gather information about brain activity. It can only capture a few hundred individual neurons at a time, which restricts the level of detail that can be obtained. However, the new imaging system developed at MSU will capture brain activity with a level of detail never before achieved.
Mark Reimers, an associate professor at MSU, stated, “We want to know how memories are made and how they fail to be made in people with memory disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. We’d like to investigate and track the evolution of a memory over time and even observe how things get mixed up in everyday memory.”
The imaging system uses a specially designed lens attached to a microscope that rapidly moves vertically, capturing dozens of images per second of the brain’s cortex. By exposing mice to specific sensory stimuli to create a memory, researchers are able to track neural activity during the memory formation and recall process.
The research has received initial funding from MSU’s neuroscience program and has now secured a three-year $750,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The team hopes that their affordable technology will encourage further neuroscience research globally.
The long-term goal of this research is to record activity from a large number of neurons as an animal performs various activities, to understand the relationship between specific neurons and the animal’s behavior. By combining the imaging system with advanced image processing software, the researchers aim to identify the specific neurons used by animals to record and recall memories.
“We hope we will be the first people to observe and document memory formation across multiple regions of the cortex,” said Reimers. He and his team also hope that other researchers will be able to build their own versions of this system to improve the image quality for their projects.
The development of this groundbreaking imaging system, which cost approximately $50,000, has the potential to significantly advance the field of neuroscience research. Reimers stated, “I would be happy to talk with other MSU labs who may want to use our new technology for their research.”
This breakthrough in brain imaging technology holds immense promise for understanding memory formation and unraveling the mysteries of memory disorders. The insights gained through this research could potentially lead to the development of new treatments for memory-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.