“Incredible detailed video of a mouse brain.”

A new video showing the nanoscale connections within a tiny chunk of mouse cortex shows what neuroscientists are up against. Using a technology called VAST, which can automatically label individual neurons, glia, and blood vessels different colors, as well as smaller structures such as dendrites and mitochondria, the researchers analyzed the contents of three cylindrical chunks of brain tissue, each no bigger than grains of salt. Among other structures, they created an annotated inventory of 1700 synapses, the team reports online today in Cell.

– Science Magazine