First place

Exploring the 3D nanoarchitecture of neuronal membranes at dendritic spine by labeling Channelrhodopsin-2 
Image of Immunofluorescence-labeled Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in 50-μm thick tissue-clearing mouse brain slices captured using 4Pi single-molecule localization microscopy. The ChR2-decorated neuromembrane at the dendritic spine is outlined with sub-15-nm 3D resolution pseudocolored by depth position of proteins, revealing nanoscale view in the 3D architecture of the dendritic spine and its cross-sectional details. 

By Hao-Cheng Gao, Xi Cheng, Alexander Chubykin, and Fang Huang, Purdue University  

Second place

Spinal motor neurons illuminated by enhancer AAV
Overview of a mouse spinal cord showing infectivity of an enhancer AAV driving SYFP2 expression (green) in spinal motor neurons following intravenous administration. The overview captures consistent expression throughout all levels of cord (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral) on both right and left hemispheres. The subsequent “fly-through” portion of the video stiches together images of ~2um thick transverse sections of the spinal cord progressing from top to bottom (cervical to sacral). SYFP2 expression matches the expected morphology and abundance of spinal motor neurons in the mouse spinal cord based off previous data, notably the Allen in situ hybridization (ISH) atlas.

By Tanya Daigle and Emily Kussick, Allen Institute for Brain Science

Third place

Neuronal 'fireworks' when the salamander sniffs
In vivo real-time volumetric calcium imaging of salamander pallial neuron activity in response to odor stimuli with swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy.

By Lu Xu, Wenze Li, Eliza Jaeger, Elizabeth Hillman, and Maria Tosches, Columbia University

BRAIN at 10 Video Finalist

Cortical Density
​​​​​​​This animation reveals the immense scientific progress that has been made in visualizing the brain. The Golgi method, established around the year 1873, stains ~1-5% of neurons, leading to a view of neurons surrounded by much empty space. Modern methods detail the true complexity and density of brain tissue.

By Tyler Sloan, Quorumetrix Studio

First Place Video

Simian Symphony: Ripple Assemblies During Rest
Related CA1 unit ensembles from macaque wireless Deep Array recordings, sonified by unit and visualized by layer and functional cell type.

By Kari Hoffman, Tyler Sloan, Saman Abbaspoor, Vanderbilt University

Second Place Video

Functional Ultrasound Localization Microscopy
Functional Ultrasound Localization Microscopy reveals whole brain vascular changes during neuronal activation up to the micron scale.

By Alexandre Dizeux, Physics for Medicine Paris

Third Place Video

Synaptic Balance
Reconstruction of inhibitory and excitatory neurons in human cortex from mSEM.

By Scalable Minds

First Place Photo

Dark Commute at 4am

In the darkness of a confocal microscope room, bright fluorescent dyes reveal Purkinje cells winding their way through the tissue of the cerebellum. These complex, branching cells play roles in learning and memory. The cells in this photo, taken from sections of mouse cerebellum, resemble pre-dawn commuters on the highways of the brain as they travel towards their eventual targets. 

By Silas Busch, University of Chicago

Second Place Photo

Premotor Neurons Controlling the Fruit Fly Leg

A reconstruction of premotor neurons controlling the fruit fly leg. Using an electron microscopy dataset of ultrathin sections of the Drosophila ventral nerve cord, researchers created a vivid display of the neural connections involved in fly leg movement. The structure of each neuron helps researchers determine their developmental lineages, represented by the different colors.

By Andrew Cook, Jasper Phelps, Anthony Azevedo, Ellen Lesser, Leila Elabbady, Brandon Pratt, Wei-Chung Allen Lee, John Tuthill, University of Washington and Harvard Medical School

Third Place Photo 

Memory Lanes

The hippocampus is the brain’s memory center. By combining two MRI scans, researchers can reveal the vast network of nerve fibers to and from the hippocampus—a wiring diagram for part of the brain. The axon fiber bundles are artificially colored depending on which direction they are heading. For a better sense of just how immensely complex the brain’s wiring is, this image represents less than 1% of the data collected.

By Tyler Ard, USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute

First Place Video

Neurons In Action
Functional activity measured in vivo with 2-Photon imaging with matching morphologies from the same neurons measured with electron microscopy.

By Andreas Tolias, Jacob Reimer, R.J. Cotton, Xaq Pitkow, Nuno da Costa, Forrest Collman, Clay Reid, and Sebastian Seung, Baylor College of Medicine, Allen Institute, Princeton University, Northwestern University/Shirley Ryan Ability Lab

Second Place Video

Ictal Cinema
Transforming intracranial recordings of an ongoing seizure into a heatmap (line length transform) using a reconstruction of the patient's own brain.

By Jon Kleen, University of California San Francisco

Third Place Video

Pyramidal Christmas Tree
A rendering of an electron microscope reconstruction of a layer 5 cortical neuron from the MICrONs dataset, where input synapses are blinking lights.

By Forrest Collman, Allen Institute for Brain Science

First Place Video

DBS Lead Placement for OCD
360 degree view of deep brain stimulation (DBS) lead placement in one participant that underwent DBS surgery for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

By Nicole Provenza, Raissa Mathura, Noam Peled, Evan Dastin-van Rijn, Kelly Bijanki, Sameer Sheth, David Borton, Wayne Goodman, Brown University, Baylor College of Medicine

Second Place Video (TIE) 

Pyramidal Tract Reconstruction in Vivo
Pyramidal tract of an HCP subject reconstructed in vivo using Radial DSI and ODF-Fingerprinting. Improved reconstruction of fibers crossing at shallow angles ensured by ODF-Fingerprinting allowed to reproduce the reach fanning shape of cortical terminations of the tract. Images were rendered in DSI Studio.

By Patryk Filipiak, Timothy Shepherd, Ying-Chia Lin, Dimitris G. Placantonakis, Fernando E. Boada, Steven H. Baete, New York University School of Medicine

Second Place Video (TIE)

Non-invasive in vivo Mapping of the Human Amygdala Circuit
Tractography of three critical amygdala pathways: the ventral amygdalofugal pathway, the stria terminalis and then amygdala-prefrontal pathway.

By Josue Avecillas-Chasin, Ausaf Bari, Jean-Philippe Langevin, University of California, Los Angeles

Third Place Video

Reconstructed Mouse Cervical Spinal Cord
Serially sectioned spinal cord with marked coordinates of V1-Interneurons and cells infected by neuronal tracer pseudorabies virus -3D reconstructed.

By Jamie Anne Mortel, Salk Institute