Maps
The human brain is an extremely complex organ in the human body. There is also so much of the brain that has yet to be discovered and we are still trying to fully understand how it all works.
It "blows my mind" to think about how we do not know so much about our own brains. We all have one and we all use it every single day whether we realize it or not.
There is a scientist from The Allen Institute named Allan Jones and he is trying to understand the human brain better by creating a map. He gives an example that you understand a city so much better once you see a map, so maybe once there is a map or maps of the brain there will be greater understanding.
The process that Jones uses is very intricate, specific, and interesting. He seeks to use normal human brains with no physical damage, with no history of psychological issues, and a clean toxicology work up. The brains used for this study are also taken and the process begins within 24 hours.
They use MRI for the first look at the brains and this is the baseline that they work from until the end of the brains specific mapping. Here is a link to an Allen Institute site that allows you to click through and interact with the MRI images of brains used in this study... http://human.brain-map.org/mri_viewers/data
The brain is then frozen completely solid and sliced very thin to be put onto a microscope slide and dyed so that it is able to be seen. Then someone is able to go in and view the different parts of the brain and start to try to make connections with things and find locations of others and understand how things work. And then the process is repeated over and over again.
I find this so interesting because there is so much information that could be found. The process has extremely specific criteria and I find that important so that what information that is found by these scientists is not jeopardized by some small thing that could have been prevented. Watching videos and reading about this made me think and wonder what my brain looks like at the microscopic level and how science is just now starting to discover what we all look like at that level.
Here is another link to The Allen Institute that gives more information on what they do and how...http://www.alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-science/research/products-tools/
That was very interesting! It is amazing what science allows us to see now! This is just the beginning of what are able to do, just imagine what it will be like in 20 years! I would love to see how my brain worked now, but I feel like it would be weird to see everything going on inside my head (because it is a lot haha).
ReplyDeleteHey Rach! I loved how you explained the process of what happens when they research the brain! About how they freeze it and then slice it and see how everything works! This really shows how cool technology is and cool to see how far along it will come!
ReplyDeleteI love your topic and how in depth you were with your explanations. I especially love your use of Bailey to beluga from Finding Dory. I think it is astonishing how far science has come to help humanity and your blog just supports that we are headed to a better Earth that is well suited for every person, no matter the disability.
ReplyDeleteGreat thought Tyler!
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