Brain Mapping

Were you under the impression that the human brain had already been mapped? Only partially. Recently, researchers in Germany (think of them as brain explorers) have found two new brain areas. They're at the front of the brain in a region known as the Frontal Pole, a portion already known to be associated with working memory and with social cognition and emotion processing. These two new brain areas have been named FP1 and FP2 (sounds a bit like Star Wars!). According to researcher Katrin Amunts, it took nearly three years to isolate and identify these two new areas. "Every time it's like a new continent, and it's surprising to find more and more areas," she said. Researchers estimate there may be 200 separate areas of the brain. Their goal is to have most of them identified on a brain map within five years.