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Scientists on Thursday unveiled the most detailed and complex portrait yet of the human brain in a dazzling catalogue of more than 3,000 types of brain cells that collectively give rise to emotion, thought, memory and disease. The painstaking work is part of the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative, a $3 billion government-funded effort to develop tools and technology to understand and map the human brain. The results, published in 21 papers across multiple journals, are starting to open up the black box of the brain by providing an initial parts list for the most complex organ scientists have ever studied. (Johnson, 10/12)

These new maps are particularly useful for understanding the territory of brain diseases such as cancer, said Sten Linnarsson, a leader of some of the research and a professor of molecular systems biology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Cancer cells follow the same genetic programs found in normal brain cells, but in a distorted way, he said. Some cancer cells seem to repeat the pattern of early brain development, almost growing a new brain within a brain, he said. In other cancer cells, genes involved in wound healing are turned on, as if the brain senses there is something wrong and activates repair mechanisms. (Weintraub, 10/12)

The American Academy of Neurology recently updated the guidelines for determining brain death in adult and pediatric patients. The guidelines, published Oct. 11 in Neurology, are the first updates in more than a decade. The 85 consensus practice guidelines were developed by a panel of 20 experts from various specialities and institutions. It included a three-page checklist to use in evaluations. (Taylor, 10/12)

Some brain injury patients may appear to be in a coma, but they are not. They are processing at least some of what is happening around them but cannot physically respond. Without a physical response, a physician might assume that a patient hasn’t understood, said Sudhin Shah, a neuroscientist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. And, she said, referring to the patient, “Unfortunately, it could be that you were processing, you were understanding, you were wanting to talk to me. You just can’t.” (Jones, 10/12)

An emerging artificial intelligence-powered tool, known as Sturgeon, successfully diagnosed 45 out of 50 frozen brain tumor samples in a matter of just 40 minutes. In living patients, the tool was capable of accurately diagnosing 18 out of 25 cases, according to a study published Oct. 11 in Nature. Brain cancer is notorious for being complex, and the surgeons removing tumors are often choosing between clearing out all cancerous cells and cutting into a portion of healthy tissue, or possibly leaving some of those cells behind, but leaving the tissue intact, The New York Times reported. (Hollowell, 10/12)

HCA Healthcare's Johnston-Willis Hospital in Richmond, Va., is the first in the nation to provide a new treatment for patients with brain metastases from lung cancer. The clinical trial is investigating the potential benefit of combining noninvasive focused ultrasound with systemic immunotherapy, according to an Oct. 12 system news release. The treatment opens the blood-brain barrier, which defends the brain against harmful substances, to help critical medications reach the critical lesions in the brain. Two patients have begun the six-treatment cycles. (Taylor, 10/12)

Scientists at a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company and their academic research partners reported Wednesday that an engineered breed of miniature pig containing up to 69 genetic changes produced kidneys that functioned well in monkeys for an average of 176 days and in one animal for more than two years. The results, published in Nature, are an encouraging sign that the long-struggling science of xenotransplantation might one day become a medical reality. (Molteni, 10/11)