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On Friday, January 31, 2025, Maastricht University awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Katrin Amunts in recognition of her outstanding and inspiring scientific achievements. The world-renowned neuroscientist received the certificate in a ceremony with Rector Prof. Pamela Habibović in the Sint-Janskerk. Every year, the university commemorates its foundation in 1976 with the ceremonial “Dies Natalis”.

FZJ Press Release

_{Image: (left to right) Prof. Alard Roebroeck, Rektorin Prof. Pamela Habibović, Prof. Katrin Amunts and Prof. Rainer Goebel. Universität Maastricht/ Philip Driessen}

In people who were born deaf, it had long been observed that brain areas normally involved in hearing become activated in other tasks. However, the precise nature of this reorganisation is not yet well understood. In a new study published in Nature Communications, a research team from Poland, Ireland and the US have found that areas of the auditory cortex take on a new role in processing visual meaning. The brain scanning study relied on fine structural parcellations of the auditory cortex available in the Julich Brain Atlas to define the regions of interest. Functional imaging measurements were made while participants watched silent animated films in an MRI brain scanner. The subsequent structure-function analysis was supported by the atlas-toolbox siibra. The Julich Brain Atlas and siibra are both openly available on the European Research Infrastructure EBRAINS. www.ebrains.eu

This call seeks to engage the scientific and research community to integrate models of the brain vascular tree with the human brain atlas in EBRAINS. We encourage submissions that bring in 3D reconstructions of the vessel tree from vascular images which can be spatially aligned to one of the reference template spaces provided by EBRAINS, to combine them with the structural and functional parcellations in EBRAINS, and link them to other findings such as structural and functional neuroimaging, cytoarchitectonics or molecular data. With the integration we aim to enhance the usability and accessibility of the vasculature models for neuroscientific studies, and further increase the clinical relevance of EBRAINS human brain atlas. The call focuses on integrating existing data with EBRAINS and does not support new data acquisitions. However, incoming datasets might require additional curation effort and adaptation of the metadata to be compatible with the existing infrastructure, and might have to be adapted in collaboration with the EBRAINS consortium partner.

Release 3.1 of the Julich Brain Atlas has been published and can be freely downloaded through the EBRAINS research infrastructure. The updated brain atlas now gives online access to 52 new probability maps of cortical and subcortical structures in a three-dimensional reference space.

Do our brains process natural and deepfaked voices differently? In a new study published in Communications Biology, scientists from Switzerland and Australia have shown that this is the case. Neuroimaging experiments identified two brain regions that respond differently to natural and deepfake voices. The results add to our understanding of neural mechanisms behind our ability to recognise deceptive information in digital environments. To precisely characterise the brain network, the researchers used probabilistic maps from the openly accessible Julich Brain Atlas on EBRAINS.

In a recent study, a German-American team of scientists has now revealed new insights into the evolutionary development of a brain structure that plays a crucial role in finely tuned and skillful hand movements. The researchers from C.&O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research at HHU Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich and Stony Brook University in New York studied a brain structure called the “red nucleus” (lat. Nucleus ruber). This nucleus is an important element of our motor system, especially for dexterous hand movements. 

Newly published new brain maps identify five new areas within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), that plays a crucial role in executive functions, including working memory, decision-making, and attention. The new study introduces 3D maps of cytoarchitectonic regions, enhancing our understanding of the prefrontal cortex's complexity.

The European Commission has signed a grant agreement to fund EBRAINS with €38 million until 2026. Over the next three years, the infrastructure will continue to develop tools and services to widely serve research communities in neurosciences, brain medicine, and brain-inspired technologies.

Katrin Amunts has been honoured with the 2023 Justine and Yves Sergent International Award, which is granted to outstanding female researchers for contributions in the field of cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging who have achieved a high international reputation. The award was presented during a conference at the University of Montreal, Canada, on Friday, December 8th, where Katrin Amunts gave the keynote “The human brain atlas – mapping the brain as a way to understand its function.”