Groundbreaking AI tool generates 3D map of the brain
It is a detailed view of the brain like never seen before.
In a significant technological leap, University of Florida researchers have created a powerful new computational and artificial intelligence tool that can generate a high-resolution 3D map of the brain in mice, allowing users to zoom in and out — from all angles, like a Google Earth map — and peer into the full set of molecules that produce energy for brain functions.
This new AI-driven tool, funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, brings scientists one step closer to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. It could open a new array of possibilities to discover targeted treatments.
Reporting today in the journal Nature Metabolism, a research team led by Ramon Sun, Ph.D., detailed how they developed their groundbreaking MetaVision3D tool using UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer. As a proof of principle, they generated a 3D interactive atlas of the brain in both normal mice and mouse models of Alzheimer’s and Pompe disease, a rare genetic disorder. Sun’s lab has made its database and web server publicly accessible to support the growing field of scientists studying links between metabolism and the mind.