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IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

Worldwide Brain-Mapping Project Sparks Excitement--and Concern

• http://www.scientificamerican.com, By Sara Reardon

In recent years, brain-mapping initiatives have been popping up around the world. They have different goals and areas of expertise, but now researchers will attempt to apply their collective knowledge in a global push to more fully understand the brain.

Thomas Shannon, US Under Secretary of State, announced the launch of the International Brain Initiative on September 19 at a meeting that accompanied the United Nations' General Assembly in New York City.

Details—including which US agency will spearhead the programme and who will pay for it—are still up in the air. However, researchers held a separate, but concurrent, meeting hosted by the US National Science Foundation at Rockefeller University to discuss which aspects of the programmes already in existence could be aligned under the global initiative. The reaction was a mixture of concerns over the fact that attempting to align projects could siphon money and attention from existing initiatives in other countries, and anticipation over the possibilities for advancing our knowledge about the brain.