In August 2008, MIT Technology Review reported on how new imaging
technologies are revealing the intricate architecture of the brain, by
creating a series of highly-detailed, and never seen before, blueprints of
its dense connectivity.The typical brain scan shows a muted gray
rendering of the brain, easily distinguished by a series of convoluted
folds. But according to Van Wedeen, an Associate Professor in Radiology at
Harvard, that image is just a shadow of the real brain. A new technique
called Diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) uses magnetic resonance signals to
track the movement of water molecules in the brain: water diffuses along the
length of neural wires, called axons.