First map of the developing brain provides insight into origin of mental disorders

"Now, Tomasz Nowakowski, a 40-year-old neuroscientist who grew up in the same city as Hevelius, is leading the creation of the first draft map of the human brain during its developmental stages from embryo to adulthood. The researcher says he feels like one of those early cartographers. Humans would never have landed on the Moon if we hadn't had a map of the lunar surface."

"Nowakowski is one of the leaders of the BRAIN Initiative, a U.S. project launched by president Barack Obama in 2013 to map the human brain an effort that has already amassed an enormous budget of 4.5 billion ($5.21 billion). The brain, the origin of our thoughts, ideas and imagination, continues to be the most important unexplored object. To understand it, we must start by understanding its list of components, says Nowakowski, from the University of California, San Francisco."

"During pregnancy, a single cell the egg fertilized by the sperm multiplies, and starting at the third week, the development of a rudimentary nervous system begins, a process that culminates in 86 billion neurons and trillions of connections between them. In this unimaginable choreography inside a fetus's skull, some cells take alternative paths. Nowakowski cites estimates that 15% of children and adolescents live with a neuro-developmental disorder like autism, schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder."

Tomasz Nowakowski leads an effort to create the first draft map of the human brain across developmental stages from embryo to adulthood, drawing a parallel to early lunar cartography. The U.S.-led BRAIN Initiative mobilizes international consortia and substantial funding (about $4.5 billion) toward mapping neural components. Brain development begins around the third week of pregnancy from a single fertilized cell and produces roughly 86 billion neurons and trillions of connections. Some cells diverge along alternative developmental paths. Approximately 15% of children and adolescents live with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, or ADHD. Advanced technologies are being applied to profile gene activity.

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