“Development of computational methods for neurobiological research“

Neurobiologists are interested in understanding how neurons form complex synaptic circuits during development and how these processes are perturbed in neuropathies. It has been well established that neuronal migration and maturation during development play a critical role in how neurons ultimately function. To better understand these two key features of mammalian neurogenesis, neurobiology researchers at institutions like St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital have developed state-of-the-art methods for imaging developing neurons in vivo. However, the development of computational methods and tools to extract pertinent information from the large and complex 3D and 4D image data sets has not kept pace with the imaging technologies. As a result, many key neurobiological questions cannot be answered for lack of appropriate analysis algorithms. ORNL researchers within the Image Science and Machine Vision group are working with St. Jude to develop a set of analysis tools that allow researchers to discover relationships between the anatomical and migratory characteristics of neurons and their ultimate ability to function within a large network. Our focus is on analyzing neuronal morphology and migration in the retina and cerebellum during early development of murine models, but the basic methods will be translatable to all classes of neurons across species. As such, the developed methods will serve as a foundation upon which a comprehensive suite of tools can be developed that have the potential to revolutionize the field of neuronal cell analysis and characterization. The biological questions that these tools will address strike at the foundation of many neurological disorders including Alzheimer´s, Parkinson´s, schizophrenia, epilepsy, cancer of the central nervous system, retinal disorders and autism.