Scientists Create Largest-Ever Map of a Mammalian Brain

The MICrONS project unveils a 3D wiring diagram of the mouse visual cortex, linking neural activity to structure in unprecedented detail.

The MICrONS Consortium has mapped 84,000 neurons and 500 million synapses in a cubic millimeter of mouse brain tissue, the most detailed mammalian brain map to date.
Researchers integrated structural and functional data, recording neural activity as the mouse watched video clips, including scenes from 'The Matrix.'
The study revealed that inhibitory neurons connect with high specificity, challenging previous assumptions about their role in neural circuits.
The dataset, totaling 1.6 petabytes, is publicly available and expected to accelerate research into neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Over 150 researchers from institutions like the Allen Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, and Princeton University collaborated on the project, using advanced imaging and AI technologies.