Scans reveal astonishingly simple 3D grid structure

A new technology with high resolution wiring diagram of our brains may reveal individual differences in brain connections that could aid diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.The new Connectom diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner can visualize the networks of crisscrossing fibers — by which different parts of the brain communicate with each other — in 10-fold higher detail than conventional scanners.The team of scientists are a part of a Human Connectome Project Harvard/MGH-UCLA consortium that is optimizing MRI technology to more accurately image the pathways. In diffusion imaging, the scanner detects movement of water inside the fibers to reveal their locations. A high resolution technique called diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) makes it possible to see the different orientations of multiple fibers that cross at a single location — the key to seeing the grid structure.