In this episode, we follow Caenorhabditis elegans into the magnetic field. Researchers have developed an elegant way to measure whole-brain neural activity in freely moving worms using a calcium-sensitive MRI contrast agent — a major step toward non-invasive brain mapping at the organism scale.

We explore:

How a genetically targeted MRI probe was used to detect calcium flux across the entire worm brain The fusion of genetics, MRI physics, and behavioural tracking Real-time measurements of brain dynamics during natural behaviour How this technique opens the door to non-invasive neuroimaging in small model organisms Implications for understanding how global brain states coordinate behaviour

📖 Based on the research article: “Functional MRI of brain-wide activity in freely moving C. elegans” Uday A. Ramalingam, Andrew M. Leifer, et al. Published in Nature (2024) 🔗 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08331-x

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📩 More info: 🔗 ⁠⁠www.veerenchauhan.com⁠⁠ 📧 [email protected]