The research team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne found that each of us has a unique brain "fingerprint", and this fingerprint will continue to change over time. Their new technology takes only 1 minute and 40 seconds to identify the brain "fingerprint". The paper was published in the recent journal Science Advances.
Researchers at the Medical Image Processing Laboratory and the Centre for Neuroprostheses at the Ecole Polytechnique fédération in Lausanne examined the connections between neural networks and different regions in the subjects' brains using MRI techniques. After the scan results are processed, a plot represented by a color matrix is generated. These graphs, called "functional brain connective groups," summarize the subjects' brain activity during the scan. This modeling technique is called network neuroscience or brain connectivity.
A few years ago, neuroscientists at Yale University discovered that a person could be accurately identified based on the brain's "fingerprints." In previous studies, brain "fingerprints" were identified by longer MRI scans that lasted a few minutes. This time, Swiss scientists took this discovery a step further, detecting the brain "fingerprint" in only about 1 minute and 40 seconds.
The study found that the information displayed by the fingerprints of the brain can be obtained in a very short period of time, without the need for an MRI scan for 5 minutes. Studies have also shown that brain "fingerprints" begin to appear in sensory areas as quickly as possible, particularly those associated with eye movements, visual perception, and visual attention. Over time, "fingerprints" of frontal cortex regions associated with more complex cognitive functions also begin to emerge and reveal unique information about each of us.
Next, the researchers will compare the brain "fingerprints" of healthy people and Alzheimer's patients. Enrico Amico, a researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, said: "Based on my initial findings, the unique features that make the brain 'fingerprint' seem to fade away as the disease progresses. It's like an Alzheimer's patient losing his brain 'ID'. ”
These findings promise to be used for neurological disease detection, such as autism or stroke. "It's just another small step toward understanding why our brains are unique, but the opportunities for this discovery can be limitless." Amico said.
Source: Science and Technology Daily