Jang-Yeon Park, a biomedical engineering professor from South Korea, has led his research team to develop an emerging technology that can overcome the multiple limitations of existing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology used by nearly 30 years, providing Neuroscientists are working on more powerful research tools for brain diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to understand how biological neural networks work.
If successful, the new technology could someday augment or directly replace widely used clinical imaging tools, including electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), which monitor electrical and magnetic signals in the brain. The study was published Oct.13 in the journal Science.
Limitations of existing fMRI
Since its introduction in 1990, fMRI has revolutionized brain research by providing a non-invasive and non-invasive way to monitor human brain activity patterns, allowing researchers to map brain regions. However, the power of fMRI is limited by the timing and location of neuronal activation, as it monitors neuronal activity by measuring the level of dependent blood oxygenation (BOLD). BOLD reflects hemodynamic changes in the brain, including changes in blood circulation caused by changes in neuronal activity; however, although BOLD provides fMRI with millimeter-scale spatial resolution, it is necessary to infer the spatial correlation of neuronal activation. it is still ambiguous, which in turn leads to the limitation of BOLD’s spatial specificity. This is because although hemodynamic fluctuations are very rapid (around 1 second), neurons conduct cognitive and sensory conduction faster (around 0.1 seconds), which makes it impossible for researchers to track neuronal activation, and more is not. not even able to faithfully and immediately reflect changes in the brain.
New technology to overcome the limits of MRI machines – DIANA
The research team of Korea University has proposed a high-resolution DIANA technology (direct imaging of neuronal activity), able to directly reflect the intracellular voltage signals of neurons and overcome the indirect physiological limits of temporal and spatial specificity; also, the application of DIANA is not easy. Contrast media are required and can be carried on existing MRI equipment for operation. Performance evaluation of the DIANA technique by monitoring the brains of mice not only improved the temporal resolution to neuronal activity by 5 milliseconds, but also detected small signals while maintaining the high spatial resolution of the MRI (0.22 mm). )The advantages.
Delighted to see the excellent performance of DIANA technology, the research team pointed out that in the future it can be transformed into a clinical human system and it is also expected that more complex signal feedback will be observed in the human brain network, which can test the limits of DIANA technology. Overall, DIANA opens up new avenues for neuroimaging, enabling clinical scientists to gain a more accurate and in-depth understanding of organization and function within the brain; its high temporal and spatial resolution will help to explain the space-time dynamics of neural networks in order to anticipate the causal relationships between their functions.
Further reading: World’s first large-scale brain study confirms brain size changes with age!
References:
1. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade4938
2. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh4340
© www.geneonline.news All rights reserved Geneonline is protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced without permission. For collaboration, contact: [email protected]
