World's first high-resolution, 3D image of a monkey BRAIN is revealed

The world's first high-resolution 3D image of a monkey brain has been revealed, in a breakthrough that could pave the way for treatments for human diseases including Parkinson's. A detailed map of a complete macaque monkey brain was created using fluorescent imaging techniques by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. The team used a new technique to show how nerve cells are organised and connected within the monkey brain at a'micron resolution'. The human brain comprises nearly a hundred billion nerve cells with delicate and complex connections, and while up to 17 times larger than that of a macaque, it is similar enough for comparisons to be made between the two, researchers claim. Until now, a mouse brain was the largest to be mapped, taking days to create a complete 3D image, but the new technique made it possible to move up to a macaque brain, which is about 200 times larger in volume than that of a mouse.