Science & Technology

New brain scanner to 'reveal the human soul'

By T.K. Randall
December 20, 2018

Image: Inside My Head
Credit: Andrew Mason / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) The ambitious project, which is expected to cost somewhere in the region of $126 million, aims to unravel the mysteries of the human brain by observing the structure and activity of every neuron.

Tipped to 'revolutionize brain studies', the new MRI could help scientists to better understand the nature of consciousness while also offering the potential for some major medical breakthroughs including new treatments for degenerative brain diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's.Once complete, the scanner, which will be built at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, will be capable of visualizing objects 1,000 times smaller than current MRI scanners.

"We may for the first time capture a full picture of human consciousness or even the essence of life itself," said one of the scientists involved in the project.

"Then we can define them and explain how they work in precise physical terms - just like Newton and Einstein defined and explained the universe."

Source: New York Post

Tags: Brain, Soul, MRI