Back in 2013 , Stanford scientists discovered a way to turn mice psyche transparent with the aptly - name techniqueCLARITY . Last year , scientist used it to delve intothe neurosciencebehind joy and pain . Now , researchers at the University of Duisburg - Essen in Germany are employing the technique to study the damage that strokes cause to the mentality ’s blood vessels .
CLARITY involves bathing the brain in chemical before subject it to a series of electric currents . This slay any unintelligible elements while keep everything intact , turning the brain a ghostly transparent white . The Lord hoped the technique would helprevolutionize genius researchby extend a simpler and more exact alternative to the usual method of cutting and slicing brains to make a serial of 2D slides .
Excitingly , CLARITY could lead to more effective intervention for strokes , thefifth most commoncause of decease in the US . Strokes come when the profligate supply to the wit is forget , starve it of oxygen and nutrients . The findings have been issue in theJournal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism .
Most research worker habituate dyes , 2D slide , and brain scans to study the causes and effects of strokes in the brain . However CLARITY allowedDirk Hermann , Chair of Vascular Neurology and Dementia at the University of Duisburg - Essen , andMatthias Gunzer , from the Center for Medical Biotechnology , and their team to examine mice brains in 3D. This gave them a decipherable thought of what was happening in the line vessels .
First , the researchers inject computer mouse hearts with a fluorescent gel so that they could pump the solution around the body . Then they dispatch the brains of the shiner and soak them in chemicals .
“ You ’re give with a brain that is clear like chalk , ” Hermann toldNew Scientist .
The researchers then placed the see - through brains under a microscope and used a optical maser to illuminate the gelatin . This , along with subsequent image processing , allowed them to seem at the way a fortuity interrupts the brain ’s blood supply in 3-D for the first time .
“ You could see which capillaries had died and how the surviving ones were reorganizing themselves , ” Gunzer told New Scientist .
Strokes are creditworthy for one in every 20 deaths in the US and are a leading cause of disability , fit in toCenters For Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) . The research worker at Duisburg - Essen hope their work with mice brains will inform next enquiry and pave the way for treatment in human stroke patients .
