Connectome: New Concept in Modern Neuroscience

Since the time that Santiago Ramon Y Cajal and Camilo Golgi received the honor of Nobel Prize in 1906 for their most valuable scientific theory on the concept of Doctrine of Neuron , neuroscience has changed a lot. By the help of the extraordinary advances in technology, the neuroscience researches not only revealed many secrets of the human brain, but also illuminate new concepts to explain the complexity of the brain. To reach this point, there are many on going Global Research Projects such as Brain Machine Interface Project, Blue Brain Project, Obama’s Brain Mapping Project and the latest HCP or the Human Connectome Project. From the neuroscience terminology point of view the word Connectome is a new term that simply refers to comprehensive map of neural connections and might be considered as the Brain Wiring Diagram . The term Connectome used primarily in scientific efforts to capture, map, and understand the organization of neural interactions within the brain by Dr. Olaf Sporns at Indiana University and Dr. Patric Hagmann at Lausanne University Hospital in 2005. The study of Connectome , known as Connectomics , may range in scale from a detailed map of the full set of neurons and synapses within part or all of the nervous system of an organism to a macro scale description of the functional and structural connectivity between all cortical areas and subcortical structures. In 1986, the full Connectome of the roundworm C. elegans has successfully constructed. The partial Connectomes of a mouse retina and primary visual cortex have also successfully constructed. The significance of the Connectome stems from the realization that the structure and function of the human brain inked, through multiple levels and modes of brain connectivity. There are strong natural constraints on which neurons or neural populations can interact, or how strong or direct their interactions are. Indeed, the foundation of human cognition lies in the pattern of dynamic interactions shaped by the Connectome. The ultimate goal of Connectomics is to map the human brain to understand the higher cortical functions.

Keywords:

Brain mapping , Connectomes , Connectomics , Cognition