title: Advanced optical imaging techniques for neurodevelopment.
abstract: Over the past decade, developmental neuroscience has been transformed by the widespread application of confocal and two-photon fluorescence microscopy. Even greater progress is imminent, as recent innovations in microscopy now enable imaging with increased depth, speed, and spatial resolution; reduced phototoxicity; and in some cases without external fluorescent probes. We discuss these new techniques and emphasize their dramatic impact on neurobiology, including the ability to image neurons at depths exceeding 1mm, to observe neurodevelopment noninvasively throughout embryogenesis, and to visualize neuronal processes or structures that were previously too small or too difficult to target with conventional microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Section on High Resolution Optical Imaging, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, 13 South Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States. Electronic address: yicong.wu@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Yicong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colón-Ramos
authors.forename: Hari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shroff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*