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Electrified blue and violent wires writhe their way across the screen , Muriel Sarah Spark of bright light sporadically exploding along their lengths . This unbelievable time - relapse TV is n’t of lightning in the sky or some unknown alien lifeforms — it show up develop nerve cells shooting across the inside of a chick embryo .
The spellbinding 15 - second clip , which was dart over 48 hours , reveals an electrifying purview of nerve cells , or neurons , plug into to the diametric side of the centralnervous system , which includes the nerves of thebrainand spinal cord .
48-hour time-lapse of developing neurons connecting the opposite side of the central nervous system in a chick embryo
The footage was shot byAlexandre Dumoulin , a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich whose research focuses on how neurons in computer mouse and chick embryos develop . His video won the 2023Nikon Small World in Motion Video Competition .
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Neurons send electric and chemic messagesthrough farseeing extensions called axons , which extend from a neuron ’s bulky eubstance . Axons reach out to other nerve cell to give info to them , and the gap between one nerve cell and the next is send for a synapse . The winning video express axon shooting across the boundary that separates the hemisphere of the central nervous system in a chick conceptus .
" The aflutter arrangement is an immensely complex and intricate organisation composed of a myriad of units that are connected to one another , " Dumoulin said in astatement . " In this television , we see individual units and how they behave .
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" The biggest challenge was to key a feasible method to access these neurons and becharm images over an extended period of fourth dimension , " he added . " A combination of precise dissection skills and adapt microscopy technique proved to be the headstone . "
Dumoulin said he hop-skip his oeuvre will help ameliorate our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders , meaning conditions that affect the growth and development of the mental capacity .
