A deep understanding of neuronal circuits is a challenging task. CD BioSciences has worked for many years to develop a variety of biophysical techniques to provide our clients with analysis of neural circuits. Our efficient technical services and solutions will accelerate your research progress in the field of neuroscience.

Introduction

Neural circuits are complex structures composed of a large number of neurons of varying morphology and function, connected by synapses, which form the structural basis for the brain's exercise of cognitive, emotional, memory, and imaginative activities. Analyzing the function and structure of neural circuits is a prerequisite for understanding the mechanisms by which the brain processes information. However, our understanding of the neural circuits is limited due to a long-standing lack of effective research tools. In the last decade, technological developments in several fields have opened up completely new opportunities to study neuronal circuits. Notably, rapid development in biophysical techniques provides promising tools for the quantitative analysis of neuronal circuit structure and function, further advancing the in-depth study of neuronal circuits.

Fig.1 Exhaustive reconstruction of neurons in the olfactory bulb of a zebrafish larva by serial block face scanning EM (SBEM). (Friedrich, 2013)

Our Services

We have developed a variety of effective techniques and methods to help our clients study the structure and function of neural circuits. Our services include but are not limited to:

• We provide detailed measurements of neuronal activity patterns in small brains by optical imaging and facilitate large-scale reconstruction of wiring maps by electron microscopy methods.
• We provide our clients with an analysis of the connectivity between neurons in circuits through methods such as efficient ultrastructural imaging.
• We use magnetic resonance imaging to acquire large samples of in vivo brain images, to finely delineate brain structures and functional areas, and to produce brain atlases applicable to living individuals. This service helps clients to research structural and functional abnormalities in the neural circuits of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
• We use optogenetic techniques to achieve high temporal resolution, low damage, and high precision optical modulation of neurons and synapses to help our customers study neural circuits in animal behavior.
• We provide our clients with modeling services for neuronal circuits. We help our clients to build structurally appropriate models of olfactory bulb neural circuits, cerebellar cortex neural circuits, hippocampal neural circuits, retinal neural circuits, and basal ganglia neural circuits to simulate the processing of neural signals and to examine the encoding properties of neural information as it is integrated by these circuits.

Our Technology Platform

Through multidisciplinary collaboration, we pay special attention to effective approaches for analyzing neural circuits, with a focus on the development and application of cutting-edge photonics and microscopic imaging techniques at multiple scales such as cryo-electron tomographic reconstruction microscopy, photoelectron correlation microscopy, super-resolution optical microscopy, ultrafast 3D fluorescence microscopy, and ultra-miniature intravital microscopy, as well as corresponding big data analysis and processing methods, to be used for high-throughput analysis of the whole-brain structure and activity traces.

CD BioSciences is committed to developing and continuously improving a comprehensive technology platform that includes a variety of advanced biophysical methods, providing neuroscientists with the necessary high-level technical support for their research at the neural circuit level. If you require services for the structural and functional analysis of neural circuits, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

1. Friedrich, R.; et al. Analyzing the structure and function of neuronal circuits in zebrafish. Frontiers in neural circuits. 2013, 7: 71.

• Whole-Brain Imaging Based on Biophysical Technology
• Detection of Neurotransmitters
• Analysis of Neurotransmitter Release
• Electrophysiological Measurements of Neurons
• Analysis of Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity
• Analysis of 3D Neural Morphology
• Visualization of Neural Activity
• Biophysical Modeling of Neural Systems