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Optical Imaging of Brains

Optical imaging offers a look inside the working brain. This lecture takes a look at orientation and ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex, and shows how they can be viewed with calcium imaging.

Topics covered in this lesson
  • Putting the size of the brain in context
  • Studying brain activity on different levels
  • Brain imaging: MRI/fMRI, optical imaging, two-photon microscopy with calcium imaging
  • Speed and resolution
  • Precursors to optical imaging
  • Ocular dominance
  • Fluorescence microscopy
  • Imaging in vivo with single-cell resolution
  • 1-photon vs 2-photon microscopy
  • Modern techniques
Prerequisites

Some basic knowledge of neurons and the visual system, comparable to the two first lectures in this series.

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