One of the best-known brain maps chops the cerebral cortex into 52 areas based on the arrangement of cells in the tissue.
Advertisement
“The cerebral cortex underlies most of human cognition, providing such functions as speech production and understanding, ability to use tools, ability to make decisions, et cetera”, Glasser said.
To construct the map, a team led by neuroscientist Mathew Glasser at Washington University Medical School used imaging data collected from 210 healthy young adults participating in the Human Connectome Project, a United States government-funded initiative to map the brain’s structural and functional connections. Previous attempts at mapping the cortex-the wrinkly, outermost layers of the brain responsible for sensory and motor processing, language, and reasoning-have had mixed results because some were based on small samples and others focused on just one aspect of brain structure or function.
This was made possible by combining data from different imaging methods used to study the brains of 210 adults. The program defined 180 distinct areas, including almost 100 that have never been described before, the scientists report today in Nature. Not only did they identify more brain regions than previous maps, they also made a machine-learning program to re-create a new map for any brain, which will help scientists and doctors study individual differences in brain structure and disease, and will hopefully lead to new ways to diagnose brain disorders.
The areas identified in the new map include 83 that had previously been identified, along with 97 new areas, Glasser said.
The map could assist in the study of brain maladies such as autism, schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy, and shed light on the differences between the brains of people with such conditions and healthy people, the researchers said.
This image shows the brain MRI when subjects listened to stories in the scanner.
“We ended up with 180 areas in each hemisphere, but we don’t expect that to be the final number”, Glasser said. Both MRI scans of the resting brain and of the brain performing simple tasks, such as listening to a story, were included in this mapping process.
The map will have an immediate impact on fundamental brain research, but will also quickly be taken up by neurosurgeons who can use the scientists’ computer algorithm to identify all of the different brain regions in patients they are about to operate on.
The human brain is a little bit less of a mystery today, thanks to new maps from neuroscientists at Washington University Medical School.
In other words, there are still questions to be asked about how much each cortical area is specialised for a specific role, and how much they are part of a broader coordinated network.
He reckons the new brain classification is comparable to something like a 19 century map of the world. “It is analogous to having a fantastic Google Earth map of your neighbourhood, down to your individual back yard”, says Jung.
“There are many billions of brains, and each one is like a planet unto itself, with different geography and different political terrain”, Van Essen said. Clinicians could use the individual maps to personalize treatment, based on the areas affected, or to monitor response to treatment.
“We were able to persuade Nature to put online nearly 200 extra pages of detailed information on each of the 180 regions as well as all of the algorithms we used to align the brains and create the map”, Van Essen said.
Brain cells communicate based on how they are wired together.
Advertisement
The HCP is a project of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research. He explains how combining information about the cortex’s architecture, topography, connectivity, and function led to identification of 180 distinct areas-beginning at about 01:06:02.
