First Ever Indian Brain Atlas (IBA)

Question: Researchers from which of the following institute have created first ever Indian Brain Atlas (IBA)?
(a) IIIT Hyderabad
(b) TIFR
(c) IISc
(d) AIIMS
Answer: (a)
Related facts:

• Researchers at the IIIT Hyderabad have created the first ever Indian Brain Atlas (IBA).
• Team of researchers led by Jayanthi Sivaswamy from the International Institute of Information Technology (IIITH), Hyderabad, completed this task related to brain anatomy.
• One of the important findings of this research is that the average brain size of an Indian was smaller in height, width and volume in comparison to people of the Caucasian and eastern races.
• The research team in its next step is thinking to prepare atlases for different age groups to study age related affects on brain anatomy.
• It was in 1993 that the MNI and the International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM) created the first digital human brain atlas.
• Scientists say that findings can have implications in treatment outcomes of certain neurological problems.
• These neurological problems are brain related ailments – like dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease etc.
• It should be known that Medical practitioners depend on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan to decide on the line of treatment for brain related ailments.
• The references they use to compare their MRI scan are the one’s created by the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), based on Caucasian brains.

Standard brain atlases:

• The earliest known brain atlas, the Talairach and Tournoux atlas, was created by manually drawing post-mortem brain sections of a 60-year-old French woman.

Links:
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/an-indian-brain-atlas/article29822964.ece
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/video/science-and-technology/iiit-hyderabad-creates-the-first-indian-brain-atlas-67494