Using a two-dimensional laser microscope developed at the Institute, the scientists measured on a time scale of 0.5–2 thousandths of a second – that is, in real time – the processes that take place on different neuron segments or projections.

The procedure makes it possible to fill with dye even as few as just one of the hundred thousand nerve cells of the live tissue that has been removed freshly from anaesthetized animals. In response to laser beam stimulation, the dye is capable of detecting the amount of calcium that enters the cell and is responsible for the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters.

Thus, the researchers managed to trace the route of neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which plays a key role in regulating the function of the nervous system.

Source: Heti Válasz

Translated by Budapest Telegraph