Head-mounted laser-scanning microscope images brain cells

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany have developed a head mounted microscope, the Fiberscope that’ll let them view visuals of the brain process and other stimuli recorded off the moving animals. In field testing, the small laser based microscopes were attached to freely moving rats looking at screens. The device was able to visualize the images of the brain cells the researchers had labeled with fluorescent dye. The microscope manages to scan the neural activity through a tiny hole in the skull created under anesthetic process. Unlike the previous methods which required restraining animals and inserting them with electrodes, this microscopic process is better and less invasive way to record brain cell activity. Video after the jump.

fiberscope

Via: NewScientist