Stanford University.
On Wednesday, scientists at Stanford Medical School released new images they’ve produced showing a slice of a mouse’s cerebral cortex. The images, captured using a technology called array tomography, show individual neurons and synapses. Synapses – which are less than a thousandth of a millimeter in diameter – allow brain cells to communicate with each other.
The idea, said Stephen Smith, a professor of molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford Medical School, is that one day scientists might be able to map the changes in individual synapses that occur when people, say, learn a new skill, or experience pain or disease.