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Watching Brain Cells In Action

Posted by timothy on from the as-if-mice-have-brains dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "A Stanford University team has developed a microscope weighing only 1.1 grams. It is so small that it can be mounted to the head of a freely moving mouse to watch its brain cell activity. According to what the lead researcher told New Scientist, 'A lot of work has been done using brain slices, or anaesthetised animals — even using animals that are awake but restrained. But so far it has been impossible to image cellular-level activity in a freely moving mouse.' Not any more. And as mice are the 'preferred' animals in medical labs, this new kind of microscope could lead to new ways to study human diseases."

11 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Now... by wcrowe · · Score: 2, Funny

    If we could just mount frickin' lasers to the heads of the mice....

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    Proverbs 21:19
  2. Hey Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let me have a look...

  3. Save the mice by gammygator · · Score: 3, Funny

    I considered suggesting using American politicians for testing instead of mice... what was I thinking?! Everybody knows they don't have brains.

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    No Nyarlathotep, No Chaos
    Know Nyarlathotep, Know Chaos
    1. Re:Save the mice by compro01 · · Score: 2, Funny

      They have brains. They rent them out to various corporations, so they're not in their heads very often.

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      upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
  4. Re:THIS TOPIC by philspear · · Score: 3, Informative

    The actual journal article can be obtained here

    http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmeth.1256.html

    As always, it might require a subscription to verify this, but there are no attached video files. The authors apperantly have not put the pictures together into movie files, which is strange. Anyway, this is one case where the summary is not at fault: there simply are no videos.

  5. Re:Hey Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking.. by StuckInSyrup · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think so, Brain, but where do we get a pool full of pineapple pudding at this hour?

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    Ni.
  6. Save the whales by lessthanpi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why don't we just use a regular microscope on whales and learn their language? Then we could strap cameras on them too and have them explore the oceans for us.

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    One man with a gun can control 100 without one
  7. no! a roland post! by X0563511 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn, I thought Slashcode Bug 2135487 was too good to be true.

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    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    1. Re:no! a roland post! by pushing-robot · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't get it - why does everybody hate Roland?

      Because he used to link to his own blog, not directly to TFA.

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      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    2. Re:no! a roland post! by pushing-robot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because without memes, Slashdot would disappear in a puff of logical discussion.

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      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  8. Just fry some eggs by myowntrueself · · Score: 2, Funny

    All I need to do to see my brain cells in action is to take some drugs and then fry an egg.

    According to the ads I saw as a kid this is an accurate depiction of my brain on drugs!

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.