Recent advances in imaging technology are opening doors to a whole new dimension of study for theneurosciences. Phenomena that were once deuced from in situ, biochemical, and genetic approaches arenow being directly observed in the context of native environments, and in real time. The amount ofinformation contained in the 3- and 4-dimensional images obtained by today's technology is enormous, and ifextracted, these data can reveal valuable mechanistic insight into a host of neurobiological processes.However, the business of imaging analysis has moved far beyond the days of visual evaluation of 2Dphotographic print and the skill sets needed to data mine 3 and 4D digital data are often not within the scopeof a biologist's available resources and expertise. Indeed, digital imaging analysis of today has become asophisticated scientific discipline in and of itself, employing principles from mathematics, computer scienceand physics. Consequently, despite the powerful advancements in imaging capability, the wealth ofinformation contained in images remains untapped in many cases.The purpose of the Quantitative Imaging Core will be to provide training and assistance in methods forquantitative analysis of microscopic images. Because the potential for applying quantitation to microscopicimages depends in large part on optimizing experimental design and imaging parameters, providing trainingin proper image acquisition will be an inherent part of the core's mission. The Core's scope will include, butnot be limited to, optimizing analysis strategies for the quantification of identified cells during migration anddifferentiation, quantification of dendritic spines, 3D reconstruction of intracellularly stained neurons, andquantification of dynamic microscopic data from calcium imaging experiments. As much of the work of ourfaculty leads to primary data in the form of images or image sequences, we propose to use the core not onlyto promote the quantitative analysis of imaging data for SNRP-investigators, but will extend our expertise tothe general Neurobiology community at UTSA.
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