Mind Mappers: Mapping The Brain To Understand The Mind

Neuroanatomist Jacopo Annese is looking for 1,000 brains. The Director of the Brain Observatory at the University of California, San Diego is on a quest to collect, dissect, and digitize images of the human brain for the Digital Brain Library, which was launched with support from the National Science Foundation. Annese and his team look for connections, mapping brain structure and connecting it to human behavior. He believes that with a large enough catalog of brains preserved as virtual models, scientists can explore the organ in ways unheard of, revealing new insights into what makes the brain tick. Annese is collecting data on the lives of the people who have already donated brains. He is also studying the behavior of people who are alive and are willing to donate their brains later for the study.