Scanned the brain of a Quake mouse
Wearing a helmet on the head of the mouse and running a virtual reality simulator on the open engine Quake 2, American scientists were able to record the activity of individual hippocampal neurons in real time. This is one of the first studies of this kind, writes Wired.
The helmet is designed for magnetic resonance scanning, and micron sensors have been implanted in the mouse’s brain to capture pulses from individual cells.
When passing certain parts of the Quake 2 map, instead of first-aid kits and cartridges, the mouse received portions of water through a special tube held to its muzzle, which prompted the experimental animal to renew further energy.
Science knows only in general terms how different parts of the brain work, including which one is responsible for the coordination of movements. But it still remains unclear how the individual cells work.
')
As it is known, magnetic resonance scanning allowed scanning the brain only in a static position. Therefore, scientists had to invent a special design. They put a helmet on the mouse and rigidly fastened it, so that the mouse's head remained motionless, while the rest of the body could actively move. To simulate the movement of the mouse put on a moving ball, so that she was able to run and turn through the corridors. Movement from the ball was filmed by the sensors of an ordinary computer mouse.
The results of a unique study published yesterday in the journal Nature [Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation. Christopher D. Harvey, Forrest Collman, Daniel A. Dombeck, David W. Tank. Nature, Vol. 461 No. 7266, October 14, 2009].
The helmet is designed for magnetic resonance scanning, and micron sensors have been implanted in the mouse’s brain to capture pulses from individual cells.
This video is in MPEG4 format, 4 MB file
When passing certain parts of the Quake 2 map, instead of first-aid kits and cartridges, the mouse received portions of water through a special tube held to its muzzle, which prompted the experimental animal to renew further energy.
Science knows only in general terms how different parts of the brain work, including which one is responsible for the coordination of movements. But it still remains unclear how the individual cells work.
')
As it is known, magnetic resonance scanning allowed scanning the brain only in a static position. Therefore, scientists had to invent a special design. They put a helmet on the mouse and rigidly fastened it, so that the mouse's head remained motionless, while the rest of the body could actively move. To simulate the movement of the mouse put on a moving ball, so that she was able to run and turn through the corridors. Movement from the ball was filmed by the sensors of an ordinary computer mouse.
The results of a unique study published yesterday in the journal Nature [Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation. Christopher D. Harvey, Forrest Collman, Daniel A. Dombeck, David W. Tank. Nature, Vol. 461 No. 7266, October 14, 2009].
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/72482/
All Articles