PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

CU Anschutz researchers create microscope allowing deep brain exploration

Tiny device fits atop mouse brain, has human implications

2015-05-12
(Press-News.org) AURORA, Colo. (May 12, 2015) - A team of neuroscientists and bioengineers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a miniature, fiber-optic microscope designed to peer deeply inside a living brain.

The researchers, including scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder, published details of their revolutionary microscope in the latest issue of Optics Letters journal.

"Microscopes today penetrate only about one millimeter into the brain but almost everything we want to see is deeper than that," said Prof. Diego Restrepo, PhD, one of the paper's authors and director of the Center for NeuroScience at CU Anschutz. "You can manipulate this lens while most others are fixed. That means you can see neurons firing inside a living brain."

The laser-scanning microscope, a prototype which will be further refined, uses fiber-optics and a tiny electrowetting lens. Compared to other small, focusing lenses, it's fast and not sensitive to motion. This allows it to reliably focus on living tissue.

At the same time, the lens allows a rapid shifting of focus by applying electricity across two different liquids, which actually changes the curvature of lens.

The microscope, about half an inch in diameter, can be directly mounted onto the head of a mouse. A thin, fiber optic cord will allow the animal to freely roam while scientists look inside its brain and monitor reactions to certain stimuli.

That means parts of the living brain like the amygdala, which had been virtually off-limits to microscopes, will soon be seen in real-time, high-resolution, 3-D images.

"Using optical methods to stimulate and record from neurons is the future of neuroscience research," said Baris Ozbay, a doctoral student in bioengineering at CU Anschutz and lead author of the paper. "But most researchers are adapting existing large microscopes to fit mice for head-fixed imaging which limits movement, is difficult to set up and has issues with motion. The solution is to put the microscope on the mouse, rather than putting the mouse on the microscope."

Emily Gibson, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering at CU Anschutz and senior author of the study, said the microscope opens a new world for scientists.

"We can now measure a large region and sample more neurons," she said. "For example, we can image up to 100 neurons at the same time, as opposed to perhaps the 10 or so we could do in the past."

All of this has potential human applications as well.

"The ability to see beneath the surface of the brain offers new, powerful ways to study brain function," said Restrepo, a professor of cell and developmental biology. "It will help us understand brain disease and formulate new treatments."

Other possibilities include: Screening pharmaceuticals targeted to specific brain disorders. Allowing neurosurgeons to image small brain areas like those targeted in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Conducting optical, in situ, biopsies for diagnosis of brain tumors. Examining the connection between neural damage and controlling prosthetic limbs.

Research was made possible by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

INFORMATION:

The other authors on the paper include Justin T. Losacco and Richard Weir from CU Anschutz; Robert McCormack, Victor Bright and Juliet T. Gopinath of the University of Colorado Boulder.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Family genetics study reveals new clues to autism risk

2015-05-12
A study of 2,377 children with autism, their parents and siblings has revealed novel insights into the genetics of the condition. The findings were reported May 11 in Nature Genetics. By analyzing data from families with one child with autism and one or more children without the condition, the researchers collected new information on how different types of mutations affect autism risk. The genetic data was obtained from exome sequencing, which looks at only the protein-coding portions of the genome. Significant progress in the past five years has been made in ...

Aclidinium bromide/formoterol in COPD: Added benefit for certain patient groups

2015-05-12
The fixed-dose combination aclidinium bromide/formoterol has been approved since November 2014 for long-term treatment of adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this drug combination offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy. According to the findings, there is an indication of minor added benefit for adult patients with moderate COPD (grade II). For adults with grade III and fewer than 2 exacerbations (flare-ups) per ...

Gender difference in vital cell count of HIV patients

2015-05-12
Male HIV patients in rural South Africa reach the low immunity levels required to become eligible for antiretroviral treatment in less than half the time it takes for immunity levels to drop to similar levels in women, according to new research from the University of Southampton. Researchers also found a link between potential proxy measures of nutritional status and disease progression, with those reporting food shortages and use of nutritional supplements reaching lower levels of immunity faster. CD4 cell count is a measure of the immune system which indicates the ...

Quantum 'gruyères' for spintronics of the future

2015-05-12
They are 'strange' materials, insulators on the inside and conductors on the surface. They also have properties that make them excellent candidates for the development of spintronics ('spin-based electronics') and more in general quantum computing. However, they are also elusive as their properties are extremely difficult to observe. Now a SISSA study, published in Physical Review Letters, proposes a new family of materials whose topological state can be directly observed experimentally, thus simplifying things for researchers. "What interests us of topological insulators ...

A gap year does not weaken study success

2015-05-12
A gap year between high school and the start of university studies does not weaken young people's enthusiasm to study or their overall performance once the studies have commenced. On the other hand, adolescents who continue to university studies directly after upper secondary school are more resilient in their studies and more committed to the study goals. However, young people who transfer directly to university are more stressed than those who start their studies after a gap year. These research results have been achieved in the Academy of Finland's research programme ...

Malaria testing yet to reach its potential

2015-05-12
In a study published this month in Malaria Journal, researchers from Uppsala University and other institutions present a new model for systematically evaluating new malaria treatment programs in routine conditions across multiple countries. Despite major investments in malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) in recent years, there remains limited evidence of their impact on treatment decisions in routine program conditions. Evidence to date is largely derived from small-scale facility studies conducted within a limited number of countries, notably Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, ...

Six times more expensive to travel by car than by bicycle: Study

2015-05-12
It is six times more expensive for society - and for you individually - if you travel by car instead of cycling. This has been shown in a Lund University study of Copenhagen, a city of cyclists. It is the first time a price has been put on car use as compared to cycling. In the comparative study, Stefan Gössling from Lund University and Andy S. Choi from the University of Queensland have investigated a cost-benefit analysis that the Copenhagen Municipality uses to determine whether new cycling infrastructure should be built. It considers how much cars cost society ...

Alcohol treatment programs prove effective in cutting reoffending, study shows

2015-05-12
Offenders enrolled in alcohol treatment programmes as part of their sentence are significantly less likely to be charged or reconvicted in the 12 months following their programme, a study led by Plymouth University has shown. Researchers from the University's School of Psychology led a project, supported by the European Social Fund, which saw males with alcohol problems related to offending being assigned to a range of different treatments when convicted. They then calculated the participants' charged and reconviction rates over the following year, with the results ...

Significant progress made towards individualized cancer immunotherapy

Significant progress made towards individualized cancer immunotherapy
2015-05-12
This news release is available in German. Mainz-based researchers have made significant advances with regard to the development of individualized immunotherapy strategies for treating cancer. They have managed to identify the relevant genetic changes or mutations associated with various types of cancer and have determined their individual blueprints. This makes it possible for the scientists to readily produce customized cancer vaccines of the kind that have already been demonstrated to be effective in animal models. Here they have proven effective in the regression ...

Bragging: Researchers find self-promotion often backfires

2015-05-12
PITTSBURGH--Bragging to coworkers about a recent promotion, or posting a photo of your brand new car on Facebook, may seem like harmless ways to share good news. However, a new study from City University London, Carnegie Mellon University and Bocconi University shows that self-promotion or a "humblebrag" often backfires. Published in Psychological Science, Irene Scopelliti, George Loewenstein and Joachim Vosgerau wanted to find out why so many people frequently get the trade-off between self-promotion and modesty wrong. They found that self-promoters overestimate how ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] CU Anschutz researchers create microscope allowing deep brain exploration
Tiny device fits atop mouse brain, has human implications