Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have tested a promising new method of studying neuronal connections in the brain. The technique can be performed in parallel with the use of positron emission tomography (PET). The results are published in Nature Neuroscience.

Neuroscientific techniques have been greatly aided by the development of new types of measurements not only in the case of nerve cells in the brain but also in the case of dead brain organoids which have enabled the study of these healthy and dead parts. However there have been issues with definition interpretation and application of these measurements due to the difficulties with recording intact brain functions. Therefore other methods are needed in order to shed light on the functions of neurons for example in pathological settings. This is the motivation behind a doctoral research project involving the use of a pityumena a resource of 61 identical ventricles of the brain that are observed to be interconnected.