Abstract
The importance of calcium in neurotransmission is well-established. However, current methodologies have been unable to quantify calcium levels precisely to determine the amount of calcium in the lumen and mitochondria of sensory axons in vivo. These technical limitations have prevented the understanding of the role of mitochondria in the regulation of normal sensory processing / sensation. This project will pioneer the use of physical science techniques in biological tissues to address this shortfall in knowledge using the latest state-of-the-art electron imaging and spectroscopy techniques.
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