IIT Madras Brain Centre Plans High-Resolution 3D Maps of Over 100 Human Brains

The Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras will develop high-resolution three-dimensional digital atlases of more than 100 post-mortem human brains, covering different stages of life, officials said on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the centre to the nation on October 11 and released C-STROKE, described as the world’s first 3D atlas of a human brain affected by an ischaemic stroke.

According to an IIT Madras press release, the initiative forms part of a global effort to create comprehensive, cellular-resolution maps of the human brain, covering developmental stages from the foetal period to old age and including brains affected by neurological disorders.

C-STROKE contains more than 1,000 annotated sections, integrating pre-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, which provide millimetre-scale details, with histological images offering microscopic information at micron-scale resolution.

The atlas maps biological markers associated with neuroinflammation, hypoxia and axonal injury, providing detailed insights into changes in brain tissue following an ischaemic stroke, which occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is blocked.

The computational mapping for the project was undertaken using the Param Shakti supercomputer, with support from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the release said.

The centre's broader initiative aims to build a collection of detailed digital brain maps that could support research into brain development, ageing and neurological conditions. Mapping brains across the human lifespan is expected to provide researchers with a resource for examining variations in brain structure and disease-related changes.

The multidisciplinary project brings together more than 200 researchers and technicians, over 10 Indian medical institutions and more than 30 international collaborators.

The research has also received philanthropic support from Prem Watsa, chairman of Fairfax Financial, and Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys. The centre's work is part of efforts to advance brain research through high-resolution imaging, computational analysis and collaboration among scientific and medical institutions.