A technicolour approach to the connectome

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Abstract
New technologies promise to decipher whole-brain connectivity at a much greater resolution than ever before. Here, Lichtman, Livet and Sanes, the creators of Brainbow, critically assess the applications and challenges of this technology and those of other existing and emerging technologies. A central aim of neuroscience is to map neural circuits, in order to learn how they account for mental activities and behaviours and how alterations in them lead to neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, the methods that are currently available for visualizing circuits have severe limitations that make it extremely difficult to extract precise wiring diagrams from histological images. Here we review recent advances in this area, along with some of the opportunities that these advances present and the obstacles that remain.