Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download

Foeschungszentrum Jülich - Research in Jülich 1_2013

Research in Jülich 1|201322 Information Pathways in the Brain T he individual regions of the brain can be represented in a way that resembles a map. The associated ‘data highways’ can be made visible with a technique using polarized light – the physical principles of this method have been known for some 150 years. Jülich researchers have re- fined this method, which they refer to as ‘polarized light imaging’, and are now using it to visualize pathways that transport information in the brain: neuronal fibre tracts. This allows them to see the layout of these fibre tracts and which regions of the brain they connect with a resolution of just a few micrometres. As material for their studies, the scientists use ultrathin slices of the brain – about 3,000 per organ. Each of these slices is examined bit by bit with polarized light. When the light hits a fibre tract, its properties undergo a measurable change. Using state-of-the-art signal and image processing techniques, the group of researchers headed by Markus Axer from the In- stitute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) link the information contained in each slice, thus reconstructing the three-dimensional layout of neuronal fibre tracts in the brain. The maps depicting these fibre tracts add to the brain atlas that Jülich researchers have been working on for more than 15 years. It contains structural informa- tion and attributes functions to different areas of the brain. The fibre tract pathways are another piece in the jigsaw puzzle towards understanding the healthy brain, which is expected to help re- searchers diagnose diseases at an early stage and develop more specific treatments. :: 1 2 3 4 Institute

Pages