Modular Brain Model Joins Neurons in Three Dimensions

August 12, 2014 | Scientists at Tufts University have produced a three-dimensional model of the brain in which rat neurons can be grown for months at a time in the lab, form axons that reach across the 3D structure, and can be arranged in cortical layers. The research is described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. While the model's creators have so far used it to study traumatic brain injury, they are working on a version with human neurons that could be used as a more complex model of neurological disease. New York Times