Well Connected

This video from the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas – a huge data set mapping the 75 million nerve cells in a mouse’s brain – provides fresh insights into how a mammal’s nervous system processes information. Here, each coloured dot represents a group of axons [nerve fibres] that project from a particular area of the brain. Using genetically engineered viruses to trace and light-up the individual neurons [nerve cells], the researchers found that the connections between different brain regions were highly specific. The brain works by balancing a low number of strong connections with a greater number of weak ones. Because of the neuronal similarities between a mouse’s brain and a human’s, this atlas could provide a powerful model to improve our understanding of how human nerve cells connect and process information.

Written by Nick Kennedy

Nick Kennedy

Writer

A Biology and Science Communication graduate, Nick is now working behind the scenes on the BPoD project. He also works as a freelance science journalist.

• Video courtesy of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA
• Copyright held by original authors
• Research published in Nature, April 2014