Name: A map of the brain
Uploaded: 2011-11-10T16:02:50Z
Duration: 15 min 4 s
Description: How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? The same way we begin to understand a city: by making a map. In this visually stunning talk, Allan Jones shows how his team is mapping which genes are turned on in each tiny region, and how it all connects up.

Allan Jones: A map of the brain

A map of the brain

How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? The same way we begin to understand a city: by making a map. In this visually stunning talk, Allan Jones shows how his team is mapping which genes are turned on in each tiny region, and how it all connects up.

New technology allows researchers to create detailed maps showing where every one of our 25,000 genes is active in the human brain. By sampling over a thousand regions from each brain and generating millions of data points, scientists can now see how genes shape everything from memory to drug response. Surprisingly, even with unique experiences and backgrounds, human brains are about 90 percent alike at the molecular level. This open-access atlas promises to unlock new understanding of disease, individuality, and the profound complexity of the mind.