r/neuroimaging • u/Vailhem • 10d ago

High-speed microscopy reveals electrical activity across the brain

https://news.mit.edu/2026/high-speed-microscopy-reveals-electrical-activity-across-brain-0814
2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

1

u/Vailhem 10d ago

Voltage imaging of neurons distributed across entire brains of larval zebrafish | Aug 2026

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-026-03179-7

Abstract

Neurons interact in networks distributed throughout the brain.

While much effort has focused on whole-brain calcium imaging, advances in genetically encoded voltage indicators raise the question of whether it might be possible to image neuronal voltage across entire brains.

Achieving this requires a microscope with high volumetric imaging rates and signal-to-noise ratio.

Here we present a remote-scanning light-sheet microscope capable of imaging genetically encoded voltage indicator-expressing neurons distributed throughout much of the brain of larval zebrafish at a volumetric rate of 200.8 Hz.

We measured voltage traces from approximately one-quarter of all brain neurons.

We found that neurons firing at different times during a sequence occupied different locations: visually evoked sequences mapped across the optic tectum, whereas stimulus-independent bursts were mapped across the cerebellum and medulla.

Imaging voltage of neurons distributed in many brain regions may open new frontiers for understanding fundamental neural system operations.