"We performed holistic imaging of human brain tissues at multiple resolutions from single synapses to whole brain hemispheres and we have made that data available," said senior and corresponding author Kwanghun Chung, associate professor in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT.

"This technology pipeline really enables us to analyze the human brain at multiple scales. Potentially this pipeline can be used for fully mapping human brains."

The new study does not already present a comprehensive map or atlas of the entire brain, in which every cell, circuit and protein is identified and analyzed, but with full hemispheric imaging, it demonstrates an integrated suite of three technologies to enable that and other long-sought neuroscience investigations.

The research provides a "proof of concept" by showing numerous examples of what the pipeline makes possible, including sweeping landscapes of thousands of neurons within whole brain regions, diverse forests of cells each in individual detail, and tufts of subcellular structures nestled among extracellular molecules.