Initial versions of the atlas have helped establish the role of genetics in determining how much gray matter an individual has. They have also detected, in schizophrenic patients, a loss of brain tissue that spreads like forest fire through the brain. (Photo: (UCLA))

Thinking, imagining, speaking and showing your emotions are only some of the complex characteristics controlled by the human brain. With more than 100 billion neurons and 100 trillions of connections, this organ has fascinated investigators for centuries, who seek to unravel how it works and what might cause it to go awry. A group of American scientists intend to assist in this task, by designing the most complete digital atlas of the brain in the world.

Once it is finished, doctors around the globe will be able to access the atlas via the Internet and to compare information on different neurological and psychiatric conditions. The project is being conducted at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of California (UCLA, www.loni.ucla.edu), and costs approximately US$ 15 million. The first phase of the map will be ready within four years and will consist of an advanced three-dimensional anatomical model, generated from brain scans of seven thousand individuals, originating in nine countries.

Paul Thompson - an assistant professor at the UCLA laboratory - explained to La Tercera that the initial map will be expanded still further to accommodate more complex data. Detailed information on cerebral activations related to language, memory and vision will be added to the map by the year 2006, whereas the inclusion of genetic information could be a reality within 10 or 20 years.

Preliminary Applications
The scientist explained that " the tools we have developed allow us to collect statistics on healthy brains, and use them to locate signs of abnormal structure or function. Although this technology will always be complementary to the talents of a medical doctor, the potential of these data is that patterns can be encoded mathematically to help detect very subtle deficits ".

Thompson adds that joint work with Finnish scientists has recently enabled them to determine that the amount of cerebral gray matter is strongly determined by genetic factors. Also, preliminary versions of the map already are being applied to detect changes brought on by Alzheimer's disease: " The early stages of the illness are difficult to distinguish from healthy aging -- but the sooner the disease is diagnosed, the sooner a patient can begin therapy to save their brain cells ".

These UCLA investigators believe that building a varied, digital map to represent people of different ages, from different families, and with different individual backgrounds is fundamental in designing more effective therapies for diseases like schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and many others.

	Future Applications Paul Thompson indicated that " the map will allow us to take advantage of the data generated by both the Human Genome Project and the Human Brain Project. Then we will begin to understand how genes affect our brain structure and how they operate in diseases like Parkinson's ". The UCLA researcher says that another short term application " will be to map the effects of diseases whose causes are currently unknown, such as schizophrenia ". Thus, for example, " using the atlas, we have already detected a loss of gray matter in schizophrenic patients that spreads like a forest fire across the brain and that had not previously been detected. This loss process seemed to begin in a small region of the brain, which we will now be able to focus our attention on ", Thompson says.

	Many Variations Thompson explains that the standard model of the brain used by surgeons for almost four decades has been that of a 60-year old French woman, something that turns out to be insufficient for representing the thousands of millions of people who inhabit the planet. " Imagine you are planning a surgery in a new patient. Ideally, you would like to know what brain regions have functions associated with sensation, or even language -- it is vital to avoid these at all costs. Even so, all brains are slightly different and the variations are complex ", says Thompson. Because of this - he adds -, the three-dimensional atlas will facilitate the identification of common characteristics and differences: " This way, we will be able to develop criteria to detect dementia or schizophrenia. Adding more subjects to the study will allow us to draw upon on many more observations and ultimately to decide if what we see it is a sign of disease ".