3D Visualization for Novel Insights into Brain Structure

描述（由申请人提供）：神经系统是神经元、其轴突投射、神经胶质和血管供应的复杂排列，然而我们关于信息处理的概念在很大程度上是以神经元为中心的。这种偏差是由于标准解剖技术的效率，以映射神经元之间的突触连接相对于其他物理相互作用的神经和非神经细胞。许多研究表明神经元群和胶质网络的空间组织，但空间组织和相互作用还没有被研究与一个综合的方法。我们将采用一种新技术，连续块面扫描电子显微镜，以高分辨率重建，大组织体积的所有细胞成分，以确定神经系统细胞组织的新原则。我们将利用人类的视觉认知能力，通过开发程序来理解空间秩序，在软件用户界面中实现，以在3-D虚拟现实环境中显示细胞元素和血管结构的组合。识别结构特征， 定义组织的3D组织将促进其他研究者对大规模组织体积的研究，因为脑结构的高通量、高分辨率研究变得更加普遍。 公共卫生相关性：该项目的目标是揭示大脑组织的新原理。我们希望我们的实验结果将为评估脑病理学和治疗策略的新指标提供基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The nervous system is a complex arrangement of neurons, their axonal projections, glia and vascular supply, yet our concepts about information processing are heavily neuron-centric. This bias results from the efficiency of standard anatomical techniques to map synaptic connections between neurons relative to other physical interactions among neural and non-neural cells. Spatial organization of neuronal groups and glia networks is indicated in many studies, but spatial organization and interactions have not been studied with an integrated approach. We will employ a new technology, serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, to reconstruct, at high resolution, all cellular elements of large tissue volumes to identify new principles in nervous system cellular organization. We will tap into human visual-cognitive capabilities to understand spatial order by developing procedures, implemented in a software user interface, to display combinations of cellular elements and vascular structures in 3-D virtual reality environments. Identification of structural features that define 3D organization of tissue will facilitate investigation of large-scale tissue volumes by othr investigators as high-throughput, high resolution studies of brain structure become more common. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this project is to reveal new principles of tissue organization in the brain. We expect that our experimental results will provide a basis for new metrics to evaluate brain pathology and therapeutic strategies.