Quorumetrix Studio reposted this
My latest #neuro #visualization is an intuition pump to help us appreciate the intricate interconnectivity of cells in your #brain. We begin by peeling through the #MICrONS cubic millimeter of mouse visual cortex, where ~75,000 neurons are packed tightly. We then see the layered organization of the cerebral cortex, segmented by their inputs and outputs. While the inputs and outputs are designated to distinct (horizontal) layers, the brain is functionally organized by vertical ‘columns’ through all these layers. Each column is a modular, computational unit, that processes and responds to one specific type of information. We take a moment to appreciate the coordinated firing of a sample of functionally-matched neurons from within a cortical minicolumn. We then zoom in from the level of the circuit to the level of the synapse, onto a layer 5 Pyramidal neuron at the heart of the microcolumn, the principal excitation unit of the brain. This unremarkable pyramidal neuron has >11,000 input synapses. Its job is to integrate these inputs, and change its own output firing rate in response. Each glowing point is at the location of a synapse. For the synapses known to come from specific cortical layers, I’ve color coded these synapses, and animated them to flicker with juxtaposed activity data from the same type of cells elsewhere in the volume. As the camera pans away, we appreciate the neuronal diversity inside this tissue - each of the neurons that pops in and out of view is a sample from the same volume that is confirmed to share a synapse with this pyramidal. Some cells hug it closely, some reach over to "high-five" from a distance. Thanks to the Allen Institute for their commitment to #openscience and making these impressive datasets openly available.
Zhimei Du
9mo
Wow, it has taken us hundreds of years to understand the hardware of our brain, and it's already so amazing. Looking forward to overlaying it with the software part in the future, which will enable us to differentiate between species, individuals, and more.
Kevin Keenan
9mo
An amazing means of displaying an enormous amount of information. This is a great example of how open data, data visualization techniques and data quality / annotation come together to provide incredible insights.
This is super cool!
Corbin Ping
9mo
Phenomenal visualization!! Really amazing to see this static object in action, fantastic work. This data set is my current computer background :)
Francis Stawicki
9mo
Very impressive processing. The data sets must be quite complex and the calculations intensive. Congratulations on the successful results.
Faezeh Jamshidi
9mo
It's wonderful
Nicolas Decat
9mo
Amazing work!
CEO at New Royal Insurance
9mothat's just amazing!! I would love to see Doctor Santiago Ramon y Cajal reaction to science like this!! . In 1894 Dr. Ramon y Cajal published the "Les nouvelles idées sur la fine anatomie des centres nerveux (New ideas on the fine anatomy of the nerve centres), a seminal work for the neuroanatomy science. He won the Nobel Prize in 1906. Santiago Ramón y Cajal died in Madrid on October 18, 1934 Thanks for sharing this impressive work.