Scientists mapped a cubic millimeter of mouse brain in extraordinary detail. The reconstruction traced hundreds of thousands of cells and their connections in a piece of visual cortex. It is a landmark for connectomics.
A dense map
Scale is immense. Hundreds of thousands of neurons were traced. Connections number in the billions.
Visual cortex
The region is chosen. It processes sight in the mouse brain. Function is well studied.
Petascale imaging
Data are vast. Petabytes of images were captured and aligned. Computation was central.
Unexpected rules
Patterns emerged. New wiring motifs were found. Theory is challenged.
A shared resource
Access is open. The reconstruction is available to researchers. Collaboration grows.
Scaling up
Ambition rises. Larger volumes are the target. Methods must scale.
The bottom line
Researchers reconstructed a cubic millimeter of mouse visual cortex, tracing hundreds of thousands of neurons and billions of connections. It revealed new wiring rules. It is a landmark for connectomics.
