Scientists were able to observe what a single neuron looks like firing its signals
How does a single neuron fire its signals? Scientists now know how to answer that, thanks to a transgenic mouse whose brain glows. When individual neurons transmit even the faintest whispers of communication, they produce tiny electrical signals.
The mouse was genetically engineered so that these electrical impulses would cause neurons in the cortex to emit fluorescent light. The researchers claim that the technology - which was described in the journal Nature Methods - may help neuroscientists clarify the complex "scales" involved in various brain functions such as memory and cognition.
(Photo: Olga Garaschuk)
3 תגובות
And did they get a court order before they started eavesdropping on him? Cheeky!
Kudos to the scientists!
Anyway, it seems to me that seeing something happen for the first time, that we know it's happening, doesn't really change a lot of things. What will change is that we will understand and know how the mechanism of things works.
For example, people knew that the moon revolved around the earth (the only celestial factor they claimed revolved around the earth and they were also right about it, but we won't address that), but they didn't know why.
When Newton came, he only enlightened the understanding of the scientists, and explained that the earth attracts it, and that this is why.
But the story does not end here. If we know that the Earth attracts the Moon, it does not mean that we understand how it works, and according to which laws.
To this day, they are looking for the hypothetical particle "graviton", which is supposed to explain the source of the gravitational force.
That's where the dog is buried, at least we hope so.
And for that matter, we still need to understand how the neurons work, and how they work with the information they pass between them. which is a stepping stone to the lofty goal of understanding how the neuron system in the brain works.
I wish the researchers who will continue to investigate further to understand the neurons to their foundation great success. 🙂
Amazing! Although I was sure that we had long passed this stage...