Show electrical signal and synapse in brain

[fredreload]

What type of technique would allow you to visualize the nerve electrical signal of the brain? Is it possible to do that with MRI?

 

[Ygggdrasil]

fMRI gives an indirect readout of neural activity by measuring changes in blood flow (the idea being that brain areas exhibiting increased activity will require increased blood flow). When working with cells in culture or experimental animals, one can visualize electrical activity in neurons either directly using dyes or proteins that directly report on membrane voltage or by using dyes or proteins that sense calcium as an indirect measurement of synaptic activity.

 

[fredreload]

It seems you need a virus for optogenetics to work to light up the neuronal membrane. Is there another imaging technique more detailed than mri in terms of showing nerve impulse?

 

[berkeman]

Is there another imaging technique more detailed than mri in terms of showing nerve impulse?

Here is a good review of current brain imaging techniques:

http://web.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/hopes_test/neuroimaging/

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[atyy]

It seems you need a virus for optogenetics to work to light up the neuronal membrane. Is there another imaging technique more detailed than mri in terms of showing nerve impulse?

There are techniques looking at eg. calcium, chloride etc.

 

[fredreload]

How do you capture the flash of light with GCAMP6 technique, anyway to do it without looking inside the brain?

 

[madness]

You can use a thinned skull (http://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v5/n2/full/nprot.2009.222.html). If you are looking for a noninvasive technique, there is EEG/MEG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography) but they don't have anywhere near cellular resolution.