Looking inside the brain?

Understanding the operation of a brain, animal or human, is one of the grand challenges. Steady progress is being made in probing the activity of the brain, from large scale imaging to the operation of individual neurones. Our work at ANU focusses on the application of optical techniques, including 2 photon imaging, holographic projection and wavefront optimisation, to test the information propagation and processing in specific neurones. These are in vitro experiments, with slices of brain, which verify existing electrical models of the information flow. Our aim is to develop a complete optical tool kit for neuro physiology, to explore the interaction within a cluster of neurones, to extend this to in vivo experiments in mice, and to create a link to the understanding of neuro deseases.