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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 17, 2025

High-resolution Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Human Subcortex In Vivo and Postmortem
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Volume electron microscopy reveals 3D synaptic nanoarchitecture in postmortem human prefrontal cortex.

Jill R Glausier1, Matthew Maier1, Cedric Bouchet-Marquis2

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Iscience
|June 30, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Electron microscopy (EM) of human brain tissue can reveal in vivo synaptic function. Volume EM (VEM) analysis of ex vivo human brain tissue provides a viable method for inferring synaptic activity and plasticity.

Keywords:
Neuroscience

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology
  • Microscopy

Background:

  • Synaptic function correlates with ultrastructural features observable via electron microscopy (EM).
  • This correlation suggests the potential to infer in vivo synaptic activity from ex vivo human brain tissue analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the feasibility of inferring in vivo synaptic function from ex vivo human brain tissue using advanced EM techniques.
  • To analyze the ultrastructure of the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for synaptic and organelle characteristics.

Main Methods:

  • Focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), a volume EM (VEM) approach, was used to generate high-resolution 3D micrographic datasets.
  • Postmortem human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tissue was analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Ultrastructural measures of synapses, sub-synapses, and organelles were consistent with findings from experimental models unaffected by antemortem/postmortem factors.
  • 3D neuropil reconstruction identified a unique spiny dendritic shaft with features indicative of synaptic plasticity.

Conclusions:

  • Ex vivo VEM analysis is a validated approach for inferring in vivo synaptic functioning in human brain tissue.
  • This study provides proof-of-concept for using VEM to study human synaptic function and plasticity.