FEMTONICS

Last week was a busy one for us at Femtonics: receiving an Honourable Mention at the 34th Hungarian Innovation Grand Prize for our Femto3D Atlas PnP system, followed by a roundtable discussion at InnoSummit 2026. At the summit, our CEO, Balázs Rózsa, highlighted a core principle behind our work: Innovation is not the discovery. It’s turning it into real-world impact. At @Femtonics , we bridge science, engineering, and application - so breakthroughs don’t stay in the lab.

Cholinergic interneurons can directly trigger serotonin release in the dorsal striatum — via nicotinic receptors Proud that a @Femtonics system supported this work

🔬 Mice help us explore neuroscience — but their cortex isn’t just a ‘small human cortex.’ 🥼 Translating findings requires understanding the differences

🧠 Your brain runs on ~20 watts Evolution built an extraordinary piece of hardware The user interface… still under development. 😄

#educationalfriday The good news: making mistakes is part of the research process. The better news: recognizing them is how good researchers become great ones What research mistake have you made that taught you the most?

In addition to mammals, 3D chessboard scanning can be extended to organisms, such as the zebrafish embryo. It can be seen, that spinal cord motoneurons can be imaged in a similar way as mammalian neurons. The chessboard ROIs were positioned along the x, y, and z axes in 3D, according to the localization of the neurons. The speed of the AO scanning in the zebrafish embryo is also more than sufficient to monitor changes in intracellular Calcium level of the motoneurons. In this case, the recording was made at a speed of approximately 60 Hz

New in Neuron: Figure 6 shows that AMPAR lateral mobility directly tunes synaptic gain and network integration. Receptor diffusion isn’t passive — it’s a functional parameter shaping postsynaptic computation. #Neuroscience #SynapticPlasticity #AMPAR #TwoPhoton #LiveImaging #SynapticComputation #Neuroscience

🔬 The first microscope ever made In the late 16th century, the earliest compound microscopes #Microscopy #HistoryOfScience #ScientificInstruments #Optics #LifeSciences

Infected dendritic cells migrating through brain capillaries A striking example of real-time host–pathogen dynamics at the blood–brain interface #InVivoImaging #Neuroimmunology #Parasitology #ToxoplasmaGondii #Microscopy #LifeSciences #Toxoplasma #Neuroimmunology #Parasites

📢 Sound doesn’t just matter when it starts — it matters when it ends 👉A powerful reminder of how femtosecond-laser–based microscopy enables circuit-level insights that single-unit recordings alone can miss

🧠 How are memories stored in the brain? 🔑 Key takeaway: Memories are encoded by specific neuronal ensembles. Reactivating that ensemble — naturally or artificially — is enough to recall the memory. This framework has transformed how we study memory, linking behavior, circuits, and causal manipulation at the level of defined neural populations. A powerful example of how modern neuroscience turns abstract concepts into testable biology.

🧠💖 hashtag#EducationalFriday Dark neurons are neurons that rarely, if ever, fire action potentials. They exist in various brain regions, yet their role remains largely unknown. Advanced imaging and electrophysiology studies suggest that as little as 10-20% of neurons may be responsible for most of the brain's activity, fitting the Pareto distribution perfectly.

New 2026 preprint on stroke microcirculation! The long-term story of stroke microvascular dysfunction: - Progressive loss of pericyte Ca²⁺ signaling - Capillary dilation and loss of basal tone - Incomplete recovery of functional hyperemia—even weeks later

Twitter  🤖 The Evolution of Automation in Neuroscience and Microscopy 🧠🔬 #EducationalFriday From manual microscopes in the 1600s to AI-driven imaging today, automation has revolutionized neuroscience! 🔍 Key Milestones: 📜 1600s-1900s – Early microscopes & neuron staining (Cajal & Golgi). ⚡ 1950s-1980s – Electron microscopy & digital imaging automation. 🧪 1990s-2000s – Confocal & two-photon microscopy automate 3D imaging. 🤖 2010s-Present – AI, acousto-optic scanning & robotic electrophysiology enable real-time, high-speed imaging. 🚀 Impact: Faster experiments, deeper insights, and the rise of fully autonomous labs! The future of neuroscience is automated. 💡 #Femtonics #NeuroTech #MicroscopyAutomation #BrainResearch

Why is 3D Real-Time Motion Correction (3D RTMC) essential for in vivo neuroscience experiments? 🧠🐭 At Femtonics, we turn this challenge into control. Our 3D RTMC technology compensates motion in real time, keeping your signals stable and your measurements reliable—even during natural physiological motion.

What if, instead of seeing the nano-world, we could actually feel it? 🏔️🔬 What if touch were the key? That’s where Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) comes in. Why is AFM a game-changer? ✅ Is it the ability to see beyond the limits of optical microscopes? ✅ Or the freedom to work with non-conductive materials, unlike electron microscopy? ✅ Perhaps it’s the power to measure mechanical, electrical, and even chemical properties? ✅ Or the mind-bending possibility of manipulating single molecules—hello, nanotechnology! ✅ All of the above—across biology, materials science, and medicine. From imaging DNA strands to designing nanomaterials, AFM invites us to explore the tiniest dimensions of our world—not by sight alone, but by touch. 🤯

🧬 Could Four-Photon Imaging Become Viable In Vivo?

📢 We were able to solve the depth dependent technical challenges To preserve the spatial resolution

From sparse signals to world-class science 🔬✨ 🎥 In this interview, researcher Tristan Geiller explains how FEMTO3D ATLAS was instrumental in studying elusive hippocampal interneurons—unlocking data that helped lead to publications in Nature and Science.

Presynaptic energy dynamics are often assumed to be tightly buffered during neuronal activity—but recent work suggests a more nuanced picture