Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods

Monitoring brain function with light in vivo has become a reality. The technology 33 of detecting and interpreting patterns of reflected light has reached a degree of 34 maturity that now permits high spatial and temporal resolution visualization at both 35 the systems and cellular levels. There now exist several optical imaging methodolo- 36 gies, based on either hemodynamic changes in nervous tissue or neurally induced 37 light scattering changes, that can be used to measure ongoing activity in the brain. 38 These include the techniques of intrinsic signal optical imaging, near-infrared optical 39 imaging, fast optical imaging based on scattered light, optical imaging with voltage 40 sensitive dyes, and two-photon imaging of hemodynamic signals. The purpose of 41 this volume is to capture some of the latest applications of these methodologies to 42 the study of cerebral cortical function. 43 This volume begins with an overview and history of optical imaging and its use 44 in the study of brain function. Several chapters are devoted to the method of intrin- 45 sic signal optical imaging, a method used to record the minute changes in optical 46 absorption due to hemodynamic changes that accompanies cortical activity. Since the 47 detected hemodynamic changes are highly localized, this method has excellent 48 spatial resolution (50–100 µm ), a resolution sufficient for visualization of fundamen- 49 tal modules of cerebral cortical function.

The technology of detecting and interpreting patterns of reflected light has reached a remarkable degree of maturity that now permits high spatial and temporal resolution visualization at both the systems and cellular levels. There now exist several optical imaging methodologies, based on either hemodynamic changes in nervous tissue or neurally-induced light scattering changes, that can be used to measure ongoing activity in the brain. Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods presents the history of optical imaging and its use in the study of brain function, and the rapidly developing optical technologies and their applications that have recently developed. These
include intrinsic signal optical imaging, near-infrared optical imaging, fast optical imaging based on scattered light, optical imaging with voltage sensitive dyes, and 2 photon imaging of hemodynamic signals.

In total, this volume captures a profile of the current state of optical imaging methodologies and their contribution towards understanding the spatial and temporal organization of cerebral cortical function.

Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods will be highly valuable for researchers and clinicians interested in brain imaging methods and brain function, including advanced undergraduates, and doctoral students, neuroscientists, physicists, psychologists, bioengineers, neurologists, psychiatrists, and neurosurgeons.

About the author:

Dr. Anna W. Roe is a professor of psychology and radiology at Vanderbilt University. She has developed optical methods for studying brain function and specializes in how our brain builds real vs. illusory percepts of the world.