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UCLA has constructed the world’s most comprehensive
atlas of the human brain
International Consortium for Brain Mapping
National Institutes of Health: $5.5M
As many ways as our brains are similar, there are
subtle differences that make each unique. Consequently, it is difficult
to know what
within the human brain is normal and what is not. Neurologists
may be well acquainted with the brain’s gross anatomy, but
this absence of exactitude poses problems that have potential implications
for researchers as well as for surgeons trying to navigate the
corrugations of this most essential organ.
Now there is the world’s most comprehensive
atlas of the brain, developed by a multidisciplinary team of UCLA
researchers with colleagues in six other
countries and at two U.S. universities. The atlas database comprises high-definition
structural maps — from gross anatomy to microscopic detail — based
on scans of the brains of some 7,000 individuals and referenced for age, race,
gender, educational background, genetic composition and other distinguishing
characteristics. Layered over the anatomical maps are brain functions such as
memory, emotion, language and speech. The need for such a tool is evident; within the past
12 months there have been more than 1.5 million visits to the consortium’s
Web site and 43,000 downloads of highly detailed information. And
the database — in some respects the equivalent of the human
genome project — continues to grow as researchers plug in
new information.
 UCLA
Brain Mapping
UCLA
Laboratory of Neuro Imaging |
