Wednesday, 23rd April 2008 (1164 views)

Gold nanoparticles are being used in a new optical probe that scientists hope could help them to map the "almost incomprehensibly complicated" circuitry of the brain, according to reports.

Eurekaalert.com states that a team from Brown University in the United States used nanogold embedded in tissue culture to prove they can measure the electrical activity of live neurons.

Taking advantage of a phenomenon known as surface plasmon polariton resonance, the nanoparticles are used to sense the electric fields generated when neurons fire. In turn, this generates an observable spectral shift that scientists can monitor and log.

The site says there are tens of billions of neurons in the brain - and "trillions" of connections between them. The ultimate aim of modern neuroscience is to map and understand how these connections work.

Findings from the Brown study were recently presented to around 6,000 international researchers at the 2008 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference in San Jose, California.

Brown University is an Ivy League school that was founded in Rhode Island in 1764.

 

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