Important discoveries in science are often called "big" breakthroughs, yet much of the information that makes these "aha" moments possible is found in the most diminutive of details. So it seems fitting that our first glimpse into the inner workings of the mammalian cerebral cortex arises from a tidbit of brain no bigger than a grain of sand.
For the first time, researchers have created a digital reconstruction of part of a mammalian cerebral cortex — the "rind" of the brain, about two to three dimes thick, that plays a central role in functions like memory, thought, language and consciousness.
This digitized rendering was created by NIH grantee Jeff Lichtman, MD, PhD, and his colleagues as part of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health, offers more details on how the film was made over on the NIH Director's blog.
Previously: Exercise and your brain: Stanford research highlighted on NIH Director’s blog, Process that creates transparent brain named one of year's top scientific discoveries and How CLARITY offers an unprecedented 3-D view of the brain's neural structure
