Molecular neuroimaging--a proposal for a novel approach to high resolution recording of neural activity in nervous...

Neuroimaging is a key methodology for the understanding of how neural systems work and how neurodynamics leads to neurally controlled behavior in animals. Current neuroimaging methods (e.g. fMRI, MEG, voltage-sensitive dye imaging) provide a critical contribution towards the current understanding of nervous systems, but they all have severe limitations in terms of temporal or spatial resolution or in terms of ability to access deep structures of nervous systems. Here a novel molecular neuroimaging method is proposed. The method is based on using molecular components to record neural activity of individual neurons at high temporal resolution and at any depth within the nervous tissue. The proposed method is presented in terms of conceptual designs of mechanisms that are expected to work as described. However, and this should be emphasized, there is no current physical realization of the proposed molecular neuroimaging method. The paper presents a conceptual design of the proposed molecular neuroimaging method. The aim of the paper is to stimulate thinking and experiments that may lead to the realization of the proposed method.