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Rats are trying out the device, a 250-gram scanner-in-miniature. Scanning technology and behavioral observation can now work in tandem

In the March issue of Scientific American Carl Schoonover, author of Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century , describes a new computer-modeling technique that allows researchers to zoom in on the smallest components of the active brain in 3-D. To accompany the story, we've collected images from his recent book , which describes the tools that scientists have used to observe the nervous system from the second century to the present.

Dieters often struggle to keep off the pounds they've lost, and a new study involving mice offers a possible explanation. Dieting may change how the brain responds to stress, so that the next time dieters feel frazzled, they eat more, researchers say.