Faster Electron Microscopy for Connectomics

Understanding the complete wiring of the brain at single–cell resolution, along with detailed molecular annotations, is critical for revealing how neural circuits support learning, memory, and behavior. Current technologies are prohibitively expensive and lack scalability, limiting our ability to link molecular composition with circuit connectivity and to understand the alterations present in brain disorders. This gap fundamentally makes diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of many brain disorders more difficult. Beyond the biomedical applications, maps of brain circuitry could play a fundamental role in grounding principles of safety for brain-like AI systems. Initiatives like the NIH BRAIN Initiative’s transformative projects (the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN), the BRAIN Initiative Connectivity Across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS) Network, and the Armamentarium for Precision Brain Cell Access) represent important efforts to illuminate foundational principles governing the ci...