Human Brain Atlas

Context:

An ‘Indian brain template’ for five distinct age groups as well as a ‘brain atlas’ to help accurate assessment of psychiatric illnesses and conduct neuro-surgical operations have been developed by neuroscientists at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS).

About:

• The human brain is the largest brain of all vertebrates relative to body size.
• The brain makes up about 2 percent of a human’s body weight. It weighs about 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kilograms). The average volume of a male’s brain is greater than a female’s brain
• The largest part of the human brain is the cerebrum, which is divided into two hemispheres.
• Underneath lies the brainstem, and behind that sits the cerebellum.
• The outermost layer of the cerebrum is the cerebral cortex, which consists of four lobes:
  • frontal
  • parietal D temporal D occipital
• Like all vertebrate brains, the human brain develops from three sections-
  • The forebrain develops into the cerebrum and underlying structures
  • The midbrain becomes part of the brain stem
  • The hindbrain gives rise to regions of the brain stem and the cerebellum

Brain template

Brain template is a gross representation from various brain images to understand brain functionality in diseased conditions.

Brain atlas

A brain atlas is composed of serial sections along different anatomical planes of the healthy or diseased developing or adult animal or human brain where each relevant brain structure is assigned several coordinates to define its outline or volume.