Dynamic Confocal Imaging of Living Brain

Introduction This special issue contains an exciting series of papers that are based on presentations made at a workshop entitled ‘Dynamic Confocal Imaging of Living Brain’ which was held on the 30th June 2001 at the University of Bristol. The paper by Howell et al. was not presented at this symposium but is included to further portray the versatility of confocal imaging. As the saying goes: ‘Seeing is believing’ and in this day and age imaging of the brain has become an important modern research tool. With the recent technological advances in single and multi‐photon microscopy, structures beneath the surface of the brain can be imaged with sub‐micrometre resolution to further enhance our understanding of inter‐ and intra‐cellular signalling. With the development and employment of calcium indicators and naturally occurring fluorescent proteins the field has advanced dramatically into imaging of living processes. The following papers encapsulate the types of research that can now be performed with confocal microscopes for imaging dynamic events in living brain both in vitro and in vivo. We are grateful to the Physiological Society, Leica Microsystems and Molecular Probes for their financial support.