Let there be Light

Brain Science:

This piece is about the world of images of the brain (and other body parts).

This is a picture of a brain actually firing through electrochemical reaction. Similar to how we create electricity within batteries.   This electromagnetic force is the source of almost all new scanning technologies. A new technique, called clarity, can make the entire brain transparent. A whole new medical science field called microscopy has developed around the “seeing” of a working brain and organs.

Brain facts:

Below are listed some of the brain imaging devices… in order of development and with most sophisticated last

    •    The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) was the first successful medical diagnostic tool. MRIs are used now for all types of procedures. Every year there are updates gleaned from use. Physicists are now doing the basic calculations to make an MRI machine fit into a cell phone.

    •    The CT (computed tomography) is a scan that is a more advanced structural imaging that can reveal causes of symptoms such as tumor, strokes, damage from head trauma, or build up of fluid in the brain.

    •    The PET( positron emission tomography) scan can show patterns of brain activity ( Electro chemical firing) and whether destructive proteins are accumulating around brain cells. (one of the causes of Alzheimer’s). The PET scan uses radioactive substances known as radio-tracers. It observes changes in metabolic processes. In the heart it is used to reveal reduced blood flow. In the brain it is used to evaluate brain disorders, such as tumors, Alzheimer’s disease and seizures. It is a more sensitive machine in the sense that it detects issues developing sooner than other scans.

So What:

    •    When you have these tests it helps to know what they are.

    •    Can you imagine how these machines are revolutionizing medicine?

    •    How many lives do you think these machines have saved?

    •    Before the introduction of these machines only about 30 or so regions of the brain were known. Now an MRI machine alone can identify two to three hundred regions, opening up entirely new frontiers for brain science.

    •    We said that there were 100 billion brain cells. We now know it is more accurately around 85 million.