Welcome to the Photonic Imaging Center at the INT

We are a group of neuroscientists of multiple backgrounds and interests, who are aware of the potential of light for the investigation of the structure and the functioning of life. We use multiple cutting-edge photonic tools for the anatomical and functional exploration of the central nervous system (CNS), on multiple in-vitro and in-vivo preparations, wild-type and genetically modified, at multiple spatiotemporal scales :

• Multiphoton Fluorescence Microscopy in vitro and in toto for the anatomical and functional exploration of the spinal cord, the hippocampus and the cortex

• Multiphoton Fluorescence Microscopy in vivo for the anatomical and functional exploration of the spinal cord and the cortex of the anesthetized and awake rodent, and the cortex of the anesthetized primate

• Optical Imaging of Intrinsic Signals and of Voltage Sensitive Dyes for the functional exploration of the awake and anesthetized primate’s cortex, as well as of the anesthetized rat’s cortex and spinal cord

• Optical Imaging Spectroscopy and Laser Doppler for the investigation of the mechanisms that regulate cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism

• Optical Coherence Tomography for imaging of the retina

• A Confocal Microscope provides access to hyper-fine detail in fixed, post-mortem preparations

Currently, the Center includes : two fast, large-volume, acousto-optical-deflector (AOD)-based 3D random-access two-photon microscopes (500 x 500 x 500 micron, 30 KHz), a confocal microscope, two optical imaging setups for mesoscopic imaging of intrinsic and voltage-sensitive dye signals in the anesthetized and the awake animal, an optical imaging spectroscope, a 2-probes Laser Doppler flowmetry instrument, and an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imager for the retina

To come soon :

• Upcoming events

• Links to the specific teams and their research topics

• List of the principal publications