Mapping Of Brain Tells That Neurons Are Not A Chaos. It Is A Pattern.

How are the neurons in the brain arranged? I wouldn’t blame you if you said it will look like a dense net with neurons running in all directions. That is what most of us thought. Apparently not. According to the recent study by a team of scientists, the neurons in the brain are grouped together like the ribbon cables and these groups are neatly laid out to form a grid with ribbons parallel to or perpendicular to the rest of the neurons.

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This imaging was possible because of the new Connectom diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. It uses diffusion spectrum imaging for detecting movement of water within the axioms. It can do the imaging with 10 times the resolution. Imaging was not easy because the human cortex (outer layer of brain) has so many folds and it made the job tough.

So scientists were using chemical tracers injected into animal brains to do the imaging. But that technique cannot be used on humans and that technique can help trace only about 25 percent of the grid structure. The latest technique can trace 75% of the grid structure. Connectome is the map of the connections and pathways in a brain. As for the implications, it might suggest a “simplifying framework for understanding the brain's structure” and help understand consciousness, intelligence and reasons for mental illnesses.

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