Brain complexity: many dedicated areas (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, July 21, 2016, 15:08 (3047 days ago) @ David Turell

The recent research on brain areas has turned up unrecognized areas of brain connectivity. There are many small discrete regions that join in for specific reasons:-http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/science/human-connectome-brain-map.html?emc=edit_th_20160721&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=60788861&_r=0-"On Wednesday, in what many experts are calling a milestone in neuroscience, researchers published a spectacular new map of the brain, detailing nearly 100 previously unknown regions — an unprecedented glimpse into the machinery of the human mind.-***-“'This map you should think of as version 1.0,” said Matthew F. Glasser, a neuroscientist at Washington University School of Medicine and lead author of the new research. “There may be a version 2.0 as the data get better and more eyes look at the data. We hope the map can evolve as the science progresses.”-"The first hints of the brain's hidden geography emerged more than 150 years ago. In the 1860s, the physician Pierre Paul Broca was intrigued by two of his patients who were unable to speak.-"After they died, Broca examined their brains. On the outer layer, called the cortex, he found that both had suffered damage to the same patch of tissue.-***-"In addition to looking at the activity of the brain, the scientists also looked at its anatomy. They measured the amount of myelin, for example, a fatty substance that insulated neurons. They found sharp contrasts in myelin levels from one region of the cortex to the next.-“'We have 112 different types of information we can tap into,” said David C. Van Essen, a principal investigator with the Human Connectome Project at Washington University Medical School-***-"The map produced by the computer includes 83 familiar regions, such as Broca's area, but includes 97 that were unknown — or just forgotten.-***-"In other parts of the cortex, the scientists were able to partition previously identified regions into smaller ones. For example, they discovered that a large region near the front of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, actually is made up of a dozen smaller zones.-"The region becomes active during many different kinds of thought, ranging from decision-making to deception. It's possible that each of the newly identified smaller parts is important for one of those tasks."-Comment: Not surprising. Since we know the brain is so plastic it can construct and reconstruct itself to manage the learning and thinking needs of its individual's needs, basic areas developed initially for action and speech have subdivided into an intricate mosaic of subunits. Light years beyond an ape brain which will have the same motor control areas and little else.