A ground-breaking study shows the most detailed map of a mammal’s brain to date.
The 3D blueprints display more than two miles of neural wiring, close to 100,000 nerve cells, and about 500 million synapses — all contained in a piece of mouse brain no bigger than a grain of sand.
Dr Clay Reid of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle said: ‘Inside this tiny speck is an exquisite forest of connections, filled with rules we’re only beginning to understand.’
The sample comes from an outer part of the brain – known as the cortex – a region which is involved in sight, the Times reports.
Dr Forrest Collman, of the same Institute, said: ‘By studying how the cortex functions in the mouse brain, we can generate better ideas and hypotheses about how our own brains work.’
The 3D blueprints show more than two miles of neural wiring, close to 100,000 nerve cells, and about 500 million synapses — all contained in a piece of mouse brain no bigger than a grain of sand
His team believes that being able to map and look into the brain’s internal wiring at this level will open new ways to understand and treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and autism.
He described it as the ‘Google Maps for the brain’, which doesn’t just show major motorways but every small street, house and room inside that house.
‘Just like people use Google Maps to figure out the best route from point A to point B, or even to check if a route exists at all, this kind of detailed brain map lets scientists see whether two neurons are connected, and exactly where those connections occur.’
Different sections of the scan are shown above
The even more fascinating part of this study was that the mouse had to have its brain activity recorded while it watched YouTube videos, which allowed scientists to see how different networks of cells interacted.
After that, they sliced the tissue into 25,000 layers, each just 1/400th of the width of a human hair, and scanned them using high-powered electron microscopes.
The images were then brought together and a 3d model was created using AI and the end results shows the structure but also shows which brain cells communicate and how.
Nuno Macarico da Costa of the Allen Institute, said one of the byproduct of this project shows ‘just how incredibly beautiful the brain is’.
Adding: ‘Just looking at these neurons shows you their detail and scale in a way that makes you appreciate the brain with a sense of awe.’
