The project cost nearly $500 million in federal funding. It spanned over 10 years and across three continents. More than 250 researchers contributed to the results.

The results of what? The dazzling details of a brain atlas—a 3-D map of the brain and its 170 billion brain cells that fall into 3,000 categories. Considered the most complex organ, this was no easy feat since each area of the brain is equal to another very complex organ. No wonder the results required 21 published papers across multiple journals.

What do the findings tell us? That while the human brain cells are similar to other primate brains, it’s how those cell types are combined that differentiates the cognitive abilities. According to John Ngai, director of the brain initiative, the reason neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders are challenging is because they don’t know what portion of the brain isn’t optimally functioning. With more research, he believes they can determine how the brain becomes susceptible to complex disorders such as autism and schizophrenia since “the cool thing here is this (brain atlas) gives us a way in.”

Articles about this research couldn’t begin to cover the project’s depth, magnitude or future potential but perhaps this neuroscientist’s comment puts it into perspective: “This is like building a map of the universe.”

For more info:

ARTICLE NPR BRAIN ATLAS REPORT

Originally published by Pazanga Healthcare Communications

Shhh! Can you hear the sounds of silence? Unless you’re wearing noise-cancelling headphones or canoeing on Ecuador’s Zabalo River where silence is protected, chances are you are living in noise pollution.

When the city-life sounds such as traffic, construction and planes surpass ambient noise levels, it has a harmful impact on humans and animals. Considered to be a form of human-generated environmental degradation, the World Health Organization has classified noise pollution as the second largest environmental cause of health problems (air pollution is the first), which include cognitive impairment in both adults and children, sleep disorders, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and premature death. National Geographic reports that noise pollution threatens the survival of over 100 animal species living on land and in water.

Doctors and researchers alike are not turning a deaf ear to this ever-growing problem. Policymakers are using urban-area interactive sound maps to make noise-related decisions and states are initiating sound control regulations. Unlike toxic pollution that can take years to clear, noise pollution can be reduced if people and machines just quiet down. Ecuador took the task to heart and became the world’s first to build a “quiet park,” a lush million acres that straddle the Zabalo River where silence is golden and revered like a natural resource. Sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?

For more info:

ARTICLE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TALKS NOISE POLLUTION

Originally published by Pazanga Healthcare Communications