Human connectome project

 

The complex architecture of the human brain and how its billions of nerve cells communicate has baffled the greatest minds for centuries. But now, new technology is allowing neuroscientists to map the brain's connections in ever greater detail. The creation of a map, or "connectome" as it has been dubbed, is raising hopes that brain disorders like autism and schizophrenia will be better understood in the future, perhaps cured. The Human Connectome projected funded by U.S. government, recently began trials on healthy volunteers with a state of the art diffusion imaging scanners. It works by tracking the passage of water molecules through nerve fibers, giving a more accurate picture of the brain's structure and its neuronal pathways, scientists say. The scanner looks like a conventional MRI machine but the power inside enables it to produce images more than 10 times clearer.