3D maps of the Brain
Posted by admin | Filed under NASA, Science
Van Wedeen, a Harvard radiology professor, is awestruck: “We’ve never really seen the brain – it’s been hiding in plain sight.” Conventional scanning has offered us a crude glimpse, but scientists such as Wedeen aim to produce the first ever three-dimensional map of all its neurons. They call this circuit diagram the “connectome”, and it could help us better understand everything from imagination and language to the miswirings that cause mental illness. But with 100 billion neurons hooked together by more connections than there are stars in the MilkyWay, the brain is a challenge that represents petabyte-level data.
So how much detail do they need? Wedeen, or the like-minded Human Connectome Project in the US, will tell you that it’s enough to chart the average pathways between areas of the brain (and that even this could take a decade to complete). However, this opinion has its critics: other scientists claim that a “true” connectome has to drill deeper, tracing each neuron and its hydra-headed links. It could be a fool’s errand, but for some it’s already their life’s work.
Wired spoke to three scientists, each using a different technique to create their own extraordinary mammalian connectome.
Above: Owl-monkey brain mapped by Van Wedeen
Wedeen used a souped-up MRI scanner to detect water diffusing along the fibres that link the different areas of an owl-monkey’s brain. He then traced where the broad circuitry lies and colour-coded it based on the direction of the tissue. The green, treelike structure on the left is the cerebellum, which handles perception. A next-generation scanner will allow him to image human brains. Wedeen says he wants to reveal “the symmetry and beauty in objects – from the outside, the brain is fairly ugly, but its architecture is beautiful and rational”.
Wired: Revealing the brain’s hidden connections
Tags: 3D, billions, Brain, connectome, Harvard radiology professor, maps, milkyway, NASA, neurons, Van Wedeen
