New imaging technologies are now capable of 'seeing' pathways of axons and neurons in the brain. Traditional MRI scanners detect only the by-products of brain activity such as metabolism. In trips to UCLA, Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital research centre, we witness at first hand the cutting-edge brain-imaging technologies being used. Acclaimed neuroscientist Jeff Lichtman at Harvard explains the Brainbow transgenic mice experiments. By injecting mice with three different colours of fluorescent genes, he produced mice whose brain circuitry has over 80 different hues. This is a historic breakthrough in neural pathway identification or 'connectomics'. Lichtman also presents the animated electron micro-photography which is the by-product of a unique brain slicing machine producing the most detailed images ever of a rat's brain.

Video Series: Professional Knowledge
Release Date 2009