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Updated: Aug 29, 2025
Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices
Published on: November 29, 2012
Ultrafast and hypersensitive phase imaging of propagating internodal current flows in myelinated axons and
Yide Zhang1, Binglin Shen1,2, Tong Wu1,3
1Caltech Optical Imaging Laboratory, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
Abstract:
Many ultrafast phenomena in biology and physics are fundamental to our scientific understanding but have not yet been visualized owing to the extreme speed and sensitivity requirements in imaging modalities. Two examples are the propagation of passive current flows through myelinated axons and electromagnetic pulses through dielectrics, which are both key to information processing in living organisms and electronic devices. Here, we demonstrate differentially enhanced compressed ultrafast photography (Diff-CUP) to directly visualize propagations of passive current flows at approximately 100 m/s along internodes, i.e., continuous myelinated axons between nodes of Ranvier, from Xenopus laevis sciatic nerves and of electromagnetic pulses at approximately 5 × 107 m/s through lithium niobate. The spatiotemporal dynamics of both propagation processes are consistent with the results from computational models, demonstrating that Diff-CUP can span these two extreme timescales while maintaining high phase sensitivity. With its ultrahigh speed (picosecond resolution), high sensitivity, and noninvasiveness, Diff-CUP provides a powerful tool for investigating ultrafast biological and physical phenomena.
