Brain Patterns Mapped

Recent brain studies have resulted in a simpler way to look at the brain. This new brain scanning provides scientists with new clues to how the human brain is built and even how it evolved. The technique used by scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School is called diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. The mapping of these brain patterns in mammals may eventually lead to the ability for doctors to be able to diagnose brain disorders due to alterations in the patterns. An additional reason as to why this finding is so important is that studies can be performed to compare the evolutionary root of the brain to similar mammals to the human.

I found this article very intriguing because the brain is such a complex and unique organ. The unknown "mess" of structure the brain entails is actually a very organized system of patterns that can be related to other organisms to provide us with mind blowing information about our evolutionary heritage. It is very interesting to me that these sorts of discoveries are being made day after day. It makes me wonder how much we will be able to find out about the brain in the upcoming years.

Mapping the Brain

From a glance, the brain may seem like an extremely complex structure with nerve endings strung out everywhere.  However, a recent study that included mapping the white matter of the brain shows that the connections in the brain are actually highly organized.  White matter is the bundle of nerve fibers that allow different brain regions to communicate and coordinate with one another.  The fibers form a grid-like structure which neatly blended together and are not a jumbled mess.  Scientists believe the reason for the way of growth is due to chemical signals that guide axon growth during brain development.  Additionally, it appeared that the grids were most regular in deep brain structures including neural pathways that were involved in emotion and memory.  Although scientists speculate that the grid-like structure exists, they are not a hundred percent certain and more testing needs to be completed.

The mapping of the human brain is a monumental achievement.  The development of the white-matter network in children could eventually one day help to provide insight into neurological conditions such as autism and other mental complications.

People are smarter than they think!

People are unaware of the knowledge they really have. They have more ideas to share than they think they actually do. Dr. Bryan Bonner, an associate professor at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business, thinks people need to realize their knowledge before becoming successful. Psychologists believe that people need to think about what they already know about a topic before finding a solution.

A research was done with 540 Utah undergraduate students, 270 working alone, and the rest in groups. Their task was to estimate closest to the correct answers to questions like weight of the heaviest man in history. Other questions asked were the elevation of Utah's King's Peak and the population of Utah state. Research shows that we're not good at applying old knowledge to current problems. When people work together consistently and effectively, it increases the amount of brainpower used. I thought this article was really interesting because people don't know how smart they really are. It seems to take much brainpower to effectively use past knowledge and apply it to new problems. Together people can apply old knowledge as a group and become very good at it. Maybe I will try to work in groups to apply my knowledge to new problems.