A group of researchers has developed some exciting new techniques for imaging neuronal and synaptic networks using the hard synchrotron x-rays provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS).

These techniques provide images with unprecedented detail and resolution, and open the door to three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions, a vital tool for studying the complex tree-like branching nature of neuronal networks.

Understanding intricate neuronal and synaptic networks, particularly in more complex mammalian brains, requires high-resolution mapping of large volumes of tissue, preferably in three dimensions in order to capture all the subtle structural details.

“Mapping neuron networks has been providing a very significant understanding of how the brain works,” said Yeukwang Hwu of Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, lead author of the paper on this new study, which was published in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.