Light microscopy mapping of connections in the intact brain

Abstract

Mapping of neural connectivity across the mammalian brain is a daunting and exciting prospect. Current approaches can be divided into three classes: macroscale, focusing on coarse inter-regional connectivity; mesoscale, involving a finer focus on neurons and projections; and microscale, reconstructing full details of all synaptic contacts. It remains to be determined how to bridge the datasets or insights from the different levels of study. Here we review recent light-microscopy-based approaches that may help in integration across scales.