In an exciting step forward for neuroscience, a global team of scientists has just shared the first full brain map that shows how choices form in almost every part of the brain. This amazing map, built from recordings of more than 600,000 neurons spread over 279 brain regions in mice, shakes up the old idea that decisions happen only in a few special spots.
For many years, people believed that a small, hidden part of the brain did all the heavy lifting for decisions. But the new map paints a different picture: choosing among options lights up almost the whole brain in a coordinated way, connecting senses, movement, and reward systems at the same time. “It’s not just a few areas involved in this, but a very large network of areas that work together,” says Dr. Alexandre Pouget, one of the project leaders.
How the Brain Map Was Made
The work, led by the International Brain Laboratory (IBL), united 22 research teams in a level of teamwork usually seen in giant physics and astronomy projects. By using cutting-edge Neuropixels probes, scientists tracked brain activity in 139 mice while they performed a set decision-making task. Each mouse responded to lights by turning a wheel to earn small rewards, and sometimes they had to remember things from earlier trials when handling unclear visual hints.
This technological leap let researchers record how individual brain cells fire throughout 95% of the mouse brain, creating a brain map that tracks every step of a choice, from sensing the world to feeling a reward.
Key Findings from the Brain Map
Widespread Neural Engagement:
The brain map revealed that making a choice lights up circuits all over the brain, not just in regions scientists usually highlight. Visual cues spark the back of the brain, then the front lights up as the mouse moves, and reward centers glow when the job is done. This huge, synchronized response argues against the neat, layered models that call one area “sensory,” another “motor,” and so on.
Role of Prior Knowledge:
The data also showed that what the mouse expects changes brain activity from the very start. “Every decision is affected this way,” Pouget commented. we saw that memories of past experiences affect regions usually tagged as sensory and motor, not just the so-called “thinking” centers, proving that the brain acts like a tiny, constant fortune teller, predicting what comes next.
Implications for Human Disorders:
Learning how the brain weaves past experiences, actions, and predictions together may help us understand disorders like schizophrenia and autism, where making accurate predictions can go wrong. This map offers a strong basis for investigating these brain circuits in related human research.
A New Model for Neuroscience
This project also showed how powerful teamwork can be in studying the brain. By using the same tools and methods in every lab, the IBL made sure that the data is consistent and can be trusted. Dr. Ila Fiete from MIT called it a “revolutionary new direction for systems neuroscience,” comparing it to big astronomy projects like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey .
All the data and methods from this brain map study are freely available to everyone. By opening them up, the IBL hopes to speed up discoveries and inspire new ideas from scientists everywhere .
The Future of Brain Mapping
This brain map is only the starting point. The IBL plans to explore more complex behaviors and bigger brain questions. If the right funding and partnerships continue, the next phase could produce even finer brain maps that show how learning, memory, and emotions shape our choices .
The map reveals that every choice is really a symphony of brain activity. This finding deepens our understanding of how we think and shows how important it is to study the brain as a whole, not in parts.
Conclusion
The debut of this detailed brain map is a landmark moment for grasping how the brain operates. By showing how different brain areas work together when we make choices, it questions the old, simplistic views and clears the way for new experiments and treatments. Dr. Paul Glimcher summed it up well: this project “is going to go down in history as a major event.”
Researchers, doctors, and anyone curious about how we think now have a powerful tool. This map is expected to guide the next wave of discoveries and medical advances, helping us learn even more about the brain for many years ahead.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/09/science/brain-map-decision-making
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