Fluorescent carbonaceous nanospheres (CDs) have generated much excitement in bioimaging because of their impressive fluorescent properties and good biocompatibility. In this study, we evaluated the potential application of CDs in noninvasive brain imaging. A new kind of CDs was prepared by a heat treating method using glutamic acid and glucose as the precursors. The hydrated diameter and zeta potential of CDs were 101.1 nm (PDI = 0.110) and -22.4 mV respectively. Palpable emission spectrum could be observed from 400 nm to 600 nm when excited at corresponding wavelength, suggesting CDs could be used as a noninvasive bio-probe for in vivo imaging. Additionally, several experiments indicated that CDs possess good serum stability and hemocompatibility with low cytotoxicity. In vitro, the CDs could be efficiently taken up by bEnd.3 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In vivo, CDs could be used for noninvasive brain imaging due to its high accumulation in brain region, which was demonstrated by in vivo imaging and ex vivo tissue imaging. Moreover, the fluorescent distribution in tissue slice showed CDs accumulated in brain with high intensity. In conclusion, CDs were prepared using a simple one-step method with unique optical and good biological properties and could be used for noninvasive brain imaging. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.