Week 7 I Neuroscience and Art

As a microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics student, fluorescent labeling techniques are not something completely foreign to me.  The Brainbow pictures however were unlike any microscopy I had ever seen. The structure of neural pathways gave these images a unique and beautiful order that I cannot imagine being matched by histological analysis of any other bodily system. Because of the complexities of the brain and nervous system, I thought other ways of imaging it must also produce amazing results. My search turned up several other brain visualization techniques known as diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), cerebral angiograms, and immunohistochemistry.

Immunohistochemical analysis of a human brain

            Immunohistochemistry is actually a widely applicable technique that is used to look at various different body tissues.  It involves the use of fluorescent antibodies that are targeted to and tag surface proteins to produce a picture. Cerebral angiograms are a little different in that they look at the blood vessels of the brain rather than the brain itself.  This technology has medical applications in that it can be used to detect problems such as aneurisms.  The dMRI process depends on the diffusion of water molecules, and reflects their movement in vivo.  As the water interacts with objects such as your neurons, the dMRI can pick up on this to produce an image.

A cerebral angiogram produces a map of the brain's blood vessels

A 3D model of axon pathways produced from dMRI data

            The multitude of technologies used to look at the nervous system and the beautiful images all have their different clinical advantages and drawbacks.  But their widespread use shows the importance of imaging technology for medical professionals to deal with the brain.  Physicians need these pictures in order to effectively assess a situation.  Researchers need them in their experiments.  Photographs are an art form closely intertwined to the success of  neurology, both for scientists and doctors alike.

Works Cited:

Carl Schoonover & Michelle Legro. "Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/portraits-of-the-mind-visualizing-the-brain/65292/#slide7>.

"Cerebral Angiography (Angiogram)." Radiologyinfo.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=angiocerebral>.

Haggman, Jonasson, et al. “Understanding Diffusion MR Imaging Techniques: from Scalar Diffusion-weighted Imaging to Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Beyond. Radio Graphics. 26.1 (2006). Web. <http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/citedby/10.1148/rg.26si06551>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=834&v=TzXjNbKDkYI>.

Waldvogel, Curtis, et al. “Immunohistochemical Staining of post-mortem adult human brain sections.” Nature Protocols. 1.6 (2006) : 2719-32. Web. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17406528>.