Visualization of calcium activity in nerve cells

Calcium plays an important role in many cellular functions. This investigation of its role in nervous system behavior uses imaging techniques, confocal microscopy, and the VolVis volume visualization system. The use of VolVis provided substantial assistance in the study of cellular calcium dynamics and in monitoring neural network activity. It yielded geometric details that facilitated our understanding of the behavior of calcium indicators inside nerve cells and led to a new view of the calcium permeability of the nuclear envelope. It has also produced anatomical details that significantly facilitated the development of a technique to directly visualize the activity of neuron populations while simultaneously observing vertebrate behavior.<>