Neurons use energy when they fire action potentials, how do they refuel? Blood.

The question is how do neurons communicate with the blood vessels that bring the desired oxygenated hemoglobin? By using 2-photon microscopy and electrophysiological techniques we investigate the neurovascular coupling.

In David Boas's lab we* built a 2-photon system that can also do confocal and other microscopy techniques. It being a 'home made' system, we can make it do whatever we want. It being a 'home made' system means we write 99% of our software to make it do whatever we want it to.

Current experiments are;

(1) taking image stacks 400microns deep in 1micron increments, into the rat cortex. We then map the vascular network. Click here to see a maximum intesity projection image of a stack.

(2) image arteries & arterioles in the somatosensory cortex during fore paw stimulation.

(3) with high speed microscopy we can calculate changes in blood flow due to sensory stimulation

 

More details and pictures (really cool!) as they become available!

we* =
David Boas
Beth Hillman
Matt Bouchard
Sava Sakadzic
and me