Lighting up the Brain

Imaging the brain has been notoriously difficult. Most methods require the subject to be dead, if not they are very inaccurate. This article discusses a new method of brain imaging that allows accurate images of brain tissue while the subject is alive and there is no need for a label, like a dye. There is a catch however, this method cannot penetrate the skull, so at the moment human application is limited to images during open brain surgery. However this opens up many exciting research options in animals. While this technology is still pretty new it has a lot of room for development. I thought it was pretty relevant considering that the Nobel Prize was given out this year due to advancements in spectroscopy and we just watched a movie about the development of staining. This technology can allow for non invasive imaging of a living brain. This can greatly aid advances in neuroscience, and the help unravel the mysteries of the brain.