Crystallinity characterization of white matter in the human brain
White matter microstructure underpins cognition and function in the human brain through the facilitation of neuronal communication, and the non-invasive characterization of this structure remains an elusive goal in the neuroscience community. Efforts to assess white matter microstructure are hampered by the sheer amount of information needed for characterization. Current techniques address this problem by representing white matter features with single scalars that are often not easy to interpret. Here, we address these issues by introducing tools from soft matter for the characterization of white matter microstructure. We investigate structure on a mesoscopic scale by analyzing its homogeneity and determining which regions of the brain are structurally homogeneous, or ``crystalline" in the context of materials science. We find that crystallinity is a reliable metric that varies across the brain along interpretable lines of anatomical difference. We also parcellate white matter into ``crystal grains," or contiguous sets of voxels of high structural similarity, and find overlap with other white matter parcellations. Our results provide new means of assessing white matter microstructure on multiple length scales, and open new avenues of future inquiry.
Careers in neuroscience (and beyond!)
Join us to hear about degrees and careers in neuroscience, what it’s like to be a neuroscientist, the wide range of career options open to you after a neuroscience degree, first-hand examples of career paths in neuroscience, and some tips and thoughts to help you in your own careers. This free and friendly webinar will give you the chance to ask questions from people with different experiences in neuroscience: - Emma Soopramanien, the BNA Committee Representative for Students and Early Career Researchers – Emma has just completed her undergraduate course in neuroscience, and will be hosting the webinar. - Professor Anthony Isles, BNA Trustee – Anthony is a professor at Cardiff University, where he researches epigenetic mechanisms of brain and behaviour and how they contribute to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students. He will talk about how he came to be a neuroscientist researcher and ways into neuroscience. - Dr Anne Cooke, BNA Chief Executive – Anne studied physiology and neuroscience at university and carried out research into neuronal communication, before then following a career path with roles in academia and industry, and now as CE at the BNA. Anne will describe her own career in neuroscience, as well as some of the many other options open to you after a neuroscience degree.
Evidence for electrical coupling between proximal axons of principal neurons
The seminar will present the origin of the hypothesis of electrical coupling between proximal axons, physiological and immunostaining evidence for the presence of the requisite gap junctions and will explain how electrical coupling could account for very fast network oscillations at >80 hz.