Investigating human neocortical architecture in 3D: new approaches for clearing, labelling and imaging large samples

By turning human brain tissue as transparent as glass, the brain’s complex structure can be studied in 3D. This is possible by imaging these very large, transparent samples with a special microscope that can quickly scan huge tissue volumes. By doing so, it was possible to visualise different components of the human neocortex, the most recent and most complex add-on to the brain during evolution