It Took Atari Graphics to Solve Brain Physiology
We all know about neurons in the brain. They are, supposedly, the place where thought takes place. Have more neurons, have more intelligence, or so the theory went. Until scientists looked at Einstein's brain. His brain looked just like yours and mine in terms of neurons. Where it differed was in the number of cells that were not neurons. In some areas of the brain, his "not neurons" were off the charts (Fields, 7). That led to a whole new exploration of the brain. They used microscopes, binary microscopes and electron microscopes. The problem with all those systems was that they worked on dead tissues. If you've ever run an electron microscope, you realize that the beam has to be focused on specially preserved, especially dead, tissue. So how do you look inside brain tissue - at the molecular level - to see just what is going on? Enter Atari and the generation of scientists the Atari-like imaging spawned.
First it was home computers with their readily accessible controllers and color graphics (Fields, 52). Attach a home computer to a microcope to a video camera and interesting things began to happen. Add a laser system and even more things showed up. You could see what was happening inside a live cell. So, what do you focus upon inside a living brain cell? Calcium transmits information from outside brain cells to the inside of brain cells. All this new technology allowed scientists to see calcium migrate - and when (Fields, 52). When scientists added fluorescing calcium-detecting dyes to brain cells, they could see which cells lit up and what kind of signal caused the flash.
This took new traits in your scientist (Fields, 54). In the past, the good scientists took their time. Preparing samples for an electron microscope that are worth anything takes time. Now, real time science required real time decision making. Your test brain cells only remained alive for so long. While they were alive you had to figure out what to do with them. When you was something on your computer/camera/laser imaging system, you had to figure out what it was - fast. Speed was a new trait. Fixing things on your equipment came in a close second.
Reference
Fields, R. Douglas. The Other Brain. From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries About the Brain Are Revolutionizin Medicine and Science. Simon & Schuster. 2009.