Recurrent activity within microcircuits of macaque dorsolateral prefrontal cortex tracks cognitive flexibility.

Human and non-human primate data clearly implicate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as critical for advanced cognitive functions . It is thought that intracortical synaptic architectures within dlPFC are the integral neurobiological substrate that gives rise to these processes, including working memory, inferential reasoning, and decision-making . In the prevailing model, each cortical column makes up one fundamental processing unit composed of dense intrinsic connectivity, conceptualized as the 'canonical' cortical microcircuit .

Enhanced characterization of breast cancer phenotypes using Raman micro-spectroscopy on stainless steel substrate.

Biochemical insights into varying breast cancer (BC) phenotypes can provide a fundamental understanding of BC pathogenesis, while identifying novel therapeutic targets. Raman spectroscopy (RS) can gauge these biochemical differences with high specificity. For routine RS, cells are traditionally seeded onto calcium fluoride (CaF) substrates that are costly and fragile, limiting its widespread adoption.

Visualizing the lipid dynamics role in infrared neural stimulation using stimulated Raman scattering.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) uses pulsed infrared light to yield label-free neural stimulation with broad experimental and translational utility. Despite its robust demonstration, INS's mechanistic and biophysical underpinnings have been the subject of debate for more than a decade. The role of lipid membrane thermodynamics appears to play an important role in how fast IR-mediated heating nonspecifically drives action potential generation.

Multi-modal nonlinear optical and thermal imaging platform for label-free characterization of biological tissue.

The ability to characterize the combined structural, functional, and thermal properties of biophysically dynamic samples is needed to address critical questions related to tissue structure, physiological dynamics, and disease progression. Towards this, we have developed an imaging platform that enables multiple nonlinear imaging modalities to be combined with thermal imaging on a common sample. Here we demonstrate label-free multimodal imaging of live cells, excised tissues, and live rodent brain models.

Identifying optimal parameters for infrared neural stimulation in the peripheral nervous system.

Infrared neural stimulation (INS) utilizes pulsed infrared light to selectively elicit neural activity without exogenous compounds. Despite its versatility in a broad range of biomedical applications, no comprehensive comparison of factors pertaining to the efficacy and safety of INS such as wavelength, radiant exposure, and optical spot size exists in the literature. Here, we evaluate these parameters using three of the wavelengths commonly used for INS, 1450 nm, 1875 nm, and 2120 nm.

Stimulation of water and calcium dynamics in astrocytes with pulsed infrared light.

Astrocytes are non-neuronal cells that govern the homeostatic regulation of the brain through ions and water transport, and Ca -mediated signaling. As they are tightly integrated into neural networks, label-free tools that can modulate cell function are needed to evaluate the role of astrocytes in brain physiology and dysfunction. Using live-cell fluorescence imaging, pharmacology, electrophysiology, and genetic manipulation, we show that pulsed infrared light can modulate astrocyte function through changes in intracellular Ca and water dynamics, providing unique mechanistic insight into the effect of pulsed infrared laser light on astroglial cells.

Beyond the H&E: Advanced Technologies for in situ Tissue Biomarker Imaging.

For decades, histopathology with routine hematoxylin and eosin staining has been and remains the gold standard for reaching a morphologic diagnosis in tissue samples from humans and veterinary species. However, within the past decade, there has been exponential growth in advanced techniques for in situ tissue biomarker imaging that bridge the divide between anatomic and molecular pathology. It is now possible to simultaneously observe localization and expression magnitude of multiple protein, nucleic acid, and molecular targets in tissue sections and apply machine learning to synthesize vast, image-derived datasets.