Research Areas - (2) Whole-Brain Synaptic Circuit Reconstruction

Full path: Biology > Biophysics > Quantum Biology / Biosensing > Neuroscience Biophotonics Imaging > Connectomic Serial-Section Electron Microscopy > Whole-Brain Synaptic Circuit Reconstruction

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Department(s)/lab(s): Neurobiology | Kasthuri Lab @ UChicago
Summary:

Kasthuri pioneered automated large-volume serial electron microscopy ('connectomics') to reconstruct complete synaptic wiring diagrams of the brain, and is now exploring synchrotron X-ray and photoemission electron microscopy (with the King lab) to remove imaging-speed bottlenecks and scale reconstructions toward whole-mouse and eventually human brains, comparing development, aging, and species differences. This is squarely the kind of resolution-pushing biological imaging the filter targets, achieving nanometer-scale synaptic resolution across cubic-millimeter-to-whole-brain volumes.

Department(s)/lab(s): Molecular and Cellular Biology | Lichtman Lab @ Harvard
Summary:

Lichtman invented the multicolor 'Brainbow' fluorescent labeling method and pioneered large-scale, automated serial-section electron microscopy to reconstruct complete synaptic wiring diagrams (connectomes) of neural tissue, pushing spatial resolution and scale together to map circuit-level brain structure.