The Promise of Two-Photon Microscopy
In Chapter 4 of the text you learn that, by selecting the appropriate fluorescent dye, researchers can use two-photon microscopy to image specific types of tissue and even track neural activity. Daniel Kerschensteiner at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has further developed the technique to label and image individual pairs of pre- and post-synaptic neurons and their connections. In a paper presented at the American Physical Society, he tells how he has used the technology to follow the changing connectivity in the mouse retina during the second week of life, and how he hopes to refine our understanding of how the developing brain reorganizes its connections. Science Daily, October 31, 2010. And at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, Jason Maclean is using a custom-built two-photon microscope to visualize the activity in neural networks of 1,000 neurons. They plan to study sections of mouse brain tissue to learn more about the neural replay that goes on in circuits following a learning experience, which is believed to be how the brain turns the neural information into a permanent memory. The Dana Foundation: Grants.

Harvard Psychologist Barred from Classroom
Usually when a scientist violates ethical standards in research, the result is some form of restriction on the scientist's research. That was the case for Mark Hauser after he was found responsible for eight instances of scientific misconduct; so far, one research article has been withdrawn and another corrected, his rsearch has been placed under additional oversight, and other restrictions could result from ongoing investigations by the federal government, which funded his research. But the psychology faculty and the dean have taken an unusual additional step: Hauser, who has received awards for his teaching, will be barred from the classroom for at least another year beyond the one-year leave of absence he is now completing. New Scientist, April 21, 2011.