Advanced Imaging Methods for Cellular Neuroscience

Brain cells, and especially neurons, have developed a high degree of polarisation as well as micro- and nanoscale compartmentalisation of cellular components when compared to other cell types.  Cellular neuroscience has benefited in the last years from the development of sophisticated high-resolution imaging techniques including subcellular nanoscopy and the development of novel probes that allow the visualization of neuronal architecture and function in vitro and in the brain in vivo. These advances have placed cellular neuroscientists at the forefront of cell biology and have allowed them to study at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution processes such as synaptic transmission, receptor trafficking, or morphological adaptations during brain plasticity in diverse models ranging from cultured neurons to the entire brain. The course and its participants will greatly benefit from the infrastructure provided by the Bordeaux Imaging Centre. Finally, this Course will emphasize how new techniques can address specific biological issues and lead to new concepts and discoveries in cellular neuroscience.