Inside IIT Madras: Unlocking the secrets of the human brain

At a research facility in Chennai, scientists are trying to understand the human brain, one of the least understood organs in the body. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras are leading this effort at the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre. The centre is working on an ambitious project to study hundreds of human brains. Scientists aim to build a detailed cellular-level atlas using samples from different age groups, populations and disease conditions.

Researchers are using advanced technology to examine the brain in far greater detail than traditional studies allow. The project studies variations across communities, health conditions and stages of life. By analysing these differences, scientists hope to understand how the brain functions and changes over time. The findings could also support future research on neurological disorders.

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Scientists examine the brain with cutting-edge tools

Senior neuropathologist Rebecca Folkerth visited the centre in 2023 and expressed surprise at the work being done there. She has spent more than 35 years studying human brains. During her career, she worked with institutions linked to Harvard Medical School and New York University Medical Center in the United States. Her research mainly focused on brain disorders and their possible causes.

Folkerth said she has examined hundreds of brains during her professional career. In most medical examinations, specialists study only small sections of the brain taken during post-mortem analysis. They place these samples under a microscope to study specific regions. This method offers limited insight because it does not show the entire structure at once.

However, the system developed at IIT Madras provides a much broader view. Scientists can display the complete brain digitally on a computer screen. The technology allows them to explore every region in high detail, even down to individual cells. According to Folkerth, such a sophisticated and detailed brain atlas has rarely been created before.

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