Holograms Reveal Brain’s Workings

Like far away galaxies, powerful tools are required to bring the minute inner workings of neurons into focus. A team of scientists report how Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) can now be used to observe neuronal activity in real-time and in three dimensions—with up to 50 times greater resolution than ever before. The application, borrowed from materials science, has immense potential for testing out new drugs to fight neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Neurons come in various shapes and are transparent. To observe them in a Petri dish, scientists use florescent dyes that change the chemical composition and can skew results. Additionally, this technique is time consuming, often damages the cells, and only allows researchers to examine a few neurons at a time. But these newly published results show how DHM can bypass the limitations of existing techniques.