Harvard and Google unveil groundbreaking brain map
The collaboration between scientists from Harvard and artificial intelligence experts from Google has led to the most sophisticated neuron mapping study to date, marking a significant milestone in the full imaging and mapping of a fragment of the human brain. Despite only reconstructing a tiny portion of tissue, the resulting brain map generated a staggering 1.4 petabytes of data. Along the way, the team uncovered numerous discoveries.
12:31 PM EDT, May 12, 2024
The sample of human brain tissue, taken from a woman with epilepsy, was intended to aid in controlling seizures but ended up revealing much more. During the procedure, a cubic piece of tissue measuring approximately 0.04 inches was removed and then divided into 5,000 slices, each thinner than a strand of human hair.
The scientists captured images of each slice using an electron microscope and pieced them together to form a detailed digital brain map. Utilizing a machine learning model, the Google team transformed these 2D images into an intricate 3D brain map, which has been made freely available to other researchers.
New discoveries unveiled
The study shed light on many previously unknown aspects of the brain — including cell clusters in symmetrical patterns, a single neuron with over 5,000 connection points to other neurons, and some axons (nerve endings that transmit signals) mysteriously coiled into balls.
Jeff Lichtman, a Harvard professor, shared his insights on the project with The Guardian:
"We found many things in this dataset that are not in the textbooks. We don’t understand those things, but I can tell you they suggest there’s a chasm between what we already know and what we need to know."
The challenge of creating a full brain map
This study's tiny 0.04-inch cube of human brain tissue produced 1.4 petabytes (PB) of raw data, resulting in the most detailed human brain imagery. However, this represents a minuscule fraction of the brain's entire structure.
According to calculations by Tom’s Hardware, a cubic millimeter of brain tissue is only one millionth of the volume of an adult human brain. Extrapolating from this, a complete map of the adult human brain would require an astronomical 1.6 zettabytes (ZB) of data. With today's technology, creating a computing system capable of handling such a vast amount of data is a formidable challenge. The storage medium required for such an endeavor would cover nearly 141 acres, equivalent to about 79 soccer fields.
