Habenular nucleus, zebrafish

Dorsal view of the forebrain of a wild-type zebrafish embryo

Epithalamus of developing zebrafish

Eye development, zebrafish

Unfolded brain, MRI

Glutamatergic neurons in the zebrafish forebrain

Glycinergic neurons in a zebrafish embryo

Brain tractography

White matter innervation of the neocortex, MRI

concept

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Retinal ganglion cell axons cross at the optic chiasm as they make their way to the to the optic tectum. Confocal micrograph of the brain of a transgenic 60 hour old zebrafish embryo viewed from a ventral aspect. Some neurons express the green fluorescent protein (GFP) - (green) under the control of a specific promotor, which drives expression in retinal ganglion cells, neuromasts, habenulae and the optic tectum. Tracts and axons have been labeled using antibodies against tubulin (red). 




Width of image is 500 micrometres

The image shows a reconstruction of the physical connections between the different regions in an adult human brain. Via these connections, brain activity can travel from one part of the brain to another. The data for this image was obtained using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging - a non-invasive neuroimaging method that allows us to build detailed representations of brain connections in vivo.

The geometry of these connections in the adult brain is of a daunting complexity. At the time of their formation, however, the brain is smaller and its shape simpler. To produce this image we deformed the brain in an attempt to recover this original simplicity. Using similar tools as those of ancient cartographers, we deformed the brain to combine multiple points of view into a single image showing the global structure of the brain's connections.		 	 	 		

The image shows a mercator transformation of the 3D space embedding a dense human brain tractography. The tractography was computed from high-angular resolution diffusion weighted imaging data. The unfolding was performed from a ventral point of view and shows the arrival of white matter fibres to the neocortex. The cerebellum is at the bottom of the image at the midline, immediately to the sides are the left and right temporal lobes, and the interhemispheric margin appears at the left and right borders of the image. One major fibre bundle has been selected for colorful representation of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, which links the visual areas in the occipital lobe with those related to object recognition in the temporal lobe.



Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) is a neuroimaging technique where signal intensity at different brain regions is modulated by the local anisotropy of water diffusion. Using DWI data we can evaluate the existence of large white matter fibre bundles, estimate their local direction, and reconstruct their pathways. The resulting reconstruction of the macroscopic structure of brain connections is very complex. We developed a computer program which performs a mercator transformation of the reconstructed streamlines. Our aim was to simplify their geometry to obtain a more intuitive representation of the global brain connectivity.

Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus, tractography

Despite our apparent perfect bilateral symmetric body plan, we all show small but conspicuous left-right asymmetries that are thought to be evolutionarily advantageous. Brain lateralisation, for instance, leads to an increase in cognitive performance. 

Zebrafish are particularly useful models to study how left-right brain asymmetries arise during embryonic development and how the resultant asymmetric neuronal circuitry ultimately impacts on function and behaviour. 


This figure is a monochrome composite of a confocal micrograph showing the dorsal view of the forebrain of a wild-type zebrafish embryo at 4 days post-fertilization. Wild-type specimens display noticeable neuroanatomical asymmetries of the habenular nuclei in the forebrain, which can be visualised with the help of antibodies labelling different structures. Here the arrangement of the axons, synaptic neuropil and a subtype of habenular neurons are predominantly enriched in the left side of the brain. 



Width of image is approximately 275 micrometres.

The image shows a reconstruction of the physical connections between the different regions in an adult human brain. Via these connections, brain activity can travel from one part of the brain to another. The data for this image was obtained using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging - a non-invasive neuroimaging method that allows us to build detailed representations of brain connections in vivo.

The geometry of these connections in the adult brain is of a daunting complexity. At the time of their formation, however, the brain is smaller and its shape simpler. To produce this image the brain was deformed in an attempt to recover this original simplicity. Using similar tools as those of ancient cartographers, multiple points of view were combined into a single image showing the global structure of the brain's connections.		
 	 	 		

The image shows a mercator transformation of the 3D space embedding a dense human brain tractography. The tractography was computed from high-angular resolution diffusion weighted imaging data. The unfolding was performed from a ventral point of view and shows the arrival of white matter fibres to the neocortex. The cerebellum is at the bottom of the image at the midline, immediately to the sides are the left and right temporal lobes, and the interhemispheric margin appears at the left and right borders of the image. One major fibre bundle has been selected for colorful representation of the extreme capsule fibre system, which links the two most important language areas: Broca's area - related to language production, and Wernicke's area - related to language comprehension.

Brocke and Wernicke areas of brain, MRI

Glycinergic neurons (a subtype of neurons which use glycine as a signalling protein) in a 48 hour old zebrafish embryo, viewed from a lateral aspect. Glycine is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the spinal cord and hindbrain. This embryo is labelled to show glycinergic neurons in green and axonal tracts in red. The first glycinergic neurons in the zebrafish spinal cord start to differentiate cordally and a wave of differentiation spreads rostrally (near the front end of the body) between 24 and 48 hours post fertilisation. By 48 hours post fertilisation glycinergic neurons are evident throughout the spinal cord and hindbrain. 

Width of image is 2 millimetres.

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Neuronal signalling

Images

Works

Eye development, zebrafish

Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus, tractography

Dorsal view of the forebrain of a wild-type zebrafish embryo

Brocke and Wernicke areas of brain, MRI

Glycinergic neurons in a zebrafish embryo

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Wellcome uses cookies.

Neuronal signalling

Images

Works

Eye development, zebrafish

Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus, tractography

Dorsal view of the forebrain of a wild-type zebrafish embryo

Brocke and Wernicke areas of brain, MRI

Glycinergic neurons in a zebrafish embryo

Wellcome Collection

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