Neuroscience at Super-Resolution [Image Gallery]

What can neuroscientists see under the microscope?

Neuroscientists regularly tag their proteins of interest with fluorescently labelled antibodies to visualize their location in the cell. However, their inability to resolve the location or structure of proteins below the diffraction limit of light (200-350nm) has hampered understanding and research progress.

Recently, several techniques have emerged that can overcome this diffraction limit to enable neuroscientists to resolve their protein of interest at tens of nanometres. These super-resolution techniques are being implemented by neuroscientists to investigate everything from neurodevelopment to degeneration. And they are shedding light on: the organization of synapses, the location of receptors, and the cytoarchitecture of neurites.

In this gallery, we highlight some of the beautiful and breath-taking images produced by neuroscientists as they undertake their research to understand the brain at super-resolution.