A new 21st century map of the human brain contains 180 distinct areas in each hemisphere, including 97 previously undiscovered territories, research published in the journal Nature revealed. The new optic provides the most detailed understanding of the cerebral cortex to date, based on the freshest data from the latest technologies. The new map "is a major revision and updating" of previous maps and is going to give us more insight into the brain. Apparently, the newly identified areas mainly reside in regions of higher cognitive function. A dozen distinct cortical areas, for instance, have been identified within the area known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning, working memory and abstract thinking, among other functions. They also discovered some areas with atypical "topological" structure from person to person. For example, area 55b "is an island of language processing snuggled in between regions with completely different functions." Long overlooked, the area is small and easily buried in the noise of signaling between other regions. Finally, perhaps as important as the map itself, the team created a machine-learning "classifier" to recognize the cortical areas in any brain studied. The classifier can be compared to post office-designed software which is able to recognize individual letters of the alphabet across many different people's handwriting in order to read addresses and sort mail. Their experiments showed the classifier could detect nearly 97% of the areas in new subjects, even in instances where someone had atypical or unique brain structures. Practical uses include the brain map becoming a tool for learning and teaching neurosurgery residents, and even planning operations. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/20/health/new-brain-map/index.html
