Efficiency improvement and standardization of cortical microcircuit analysis using 3D reconstruction of large volume EM data set

How the cerebral cortex executes complex higher brain functions by integrating inputs from the thalamus and other cortical areas is a fundamental question in neuroscience. To find the wiring rules of the cortical neural network, the use of large-volume electron micrograph (EM) data sets has emerged as a promising approach. However, a major obstacle is the inefficiency of EM imaging and subsequent image analysis. We wish to solve these issues by introducing several technical improvements and standardization to the cortical microcircuit analysis method based on 3D reconstruction of large volume EM data sets, to bring us closer to answering the principal question in neuroscience.