Infection with the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans can cause meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain) and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain itself), conditions that are often lethal. To elicit these effects, the fungus must somehow leave the blood stream and enter the brain, but little is known about how it does this. A team of researchers has now used a form of microscopy known as intravital microscopy, which enables researchers to observe events in real-time in live animals, to visualize in mice the process of brain invasion by Cryptococcus neoformans.