Mapping the brain like Google Maps: EBRAINS at EAN 2025 connects brain research and clinical care

A highlight of the Congress was the symposium "Open Science and Medical Informatics in Neurology - an EAN-EBRAINS joint project ", held on Monday, 23 June, with insightful presentations by Prof. Katrin Amunts, Prof. Maurizio Corbetta, and Prof. Philippe Ryvlin. The session explored how EBRAINS digital infrastructure and community are building bridges between neuroscience, data science, and medicine -opening new frontiers for diagnosis, treatment, and personalised brain health.

The symposium invited participants to reflect on the future of brain research and clinical care: what if we could explore the human brain like Google Maps? What if this 3D map oriented to support clinical research could predict diseases, guide surgeries, or even support recovery after stroke? 

The speakers showed us how this is becoming a reality thanks to EBRAINS – Europe’s cutting-edge brain research infrastructure. 

From microscope to map 

Prof. Katrin Amunts, Director at the Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Director of the Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Joint CEO of EBRAINS presented how the cytoarchitectonic Julich-Brain Atlas was developed. Each brain region of this atlas is defined by carefully analysing and comparing data from 10 human brains. Considering how much individual brains can differ in shape, size, and structure, scientists created "probability maps", available in 3D common reference spaces, that indicate where certain brain regions are most likely to be found.

Thanks to the continuous support provided throughout the period of the Human Brain Project , the cytoarchitectonic Julich-Brain Atlas is now covering over 200 brain regions that are building the core organisation of the EBRAINS Multilevel Human Brain Atlas. In the EBRAINS Atlas, these regions are further complemented with data from e.g., neurological patients, helping to inform computational models used in personalised medicines .

From lab to clinic 

Prof. Maurizio Corbetta,  Chair of Neurology at the University of Padua (Università degli Studi di Padova) and Director of the Padova Neuroscience Center presented evidence from his research on the connectome and explained how EBRAINS helps translate this brain knowledge into real-world healthcare. 

He used a powerful metaphor, comparing the brain’s connectivity to a railway network - where some stations (brain regions) act as major hubs, linking many lines, while others are smaller, local stations. Clinical research shows that in glioblastoma, when lesions occur in these central ‘hub’ areas with high density and connectivity with the whole network, the impact is more severe and survival rates are lower, compared to lesions in low connected, peripheral areas with lower density. 

They showcased concrete examples demonstrating how the EBRAINS platform can drive real-world impact - advancing brain research, improving clinical decision-making, and accelerating the development of new treatments for different illnesses such as glioblastoma, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and stroke. 

• In glioblastoma (a deadly brain tumour), the research of new tools related to structural connectivity may predict how long a patient may survive and where the cancer might spread next.  

• For Parkinson’s patients, combining brain scans with connectome maps can help doctors better understand how the disease progresses.  

• In stroke patients, it can help predict what patients are more likely to recover or develop chronic deficit, as well as guide personalised treatment. 

• In epilepsy, brain stimulation and modelling can help surgeons target seizure and epileptic zones more precisely and less invasively. 

Thanks to high-performance computing, AI, and a growing network of hospitals across Europe, EBRAINS is enhancing an open platform where data, tools, and clinical knowledge can be shared for better, faster, and more accurate brain care. 

Philippe Ryvlin, Professor at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DNC) at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), investigates in his research the heart-brain interaction, both in terms of their physiology and dysfunction. He stressed the crucial role of clinical data and the importance of the EBRAINS cloud-based trusted research environments – HIP (Health Informatics Platform) and PHI (Protected Health Information).  

The EBRAINS platform is an effective and regulatory-compliant solution for sharing a large volume of raw brain data, supporting research enhanced by AI tools.  At the same time, it maintains state of the art curation and analytical tools to promote harmonised data processing and benchmarking of AI algorithms. 

As an informative extension of the symposium, many visitors engaged with the EBRAINS booth, attracted by the interactive 3D Human Brain Atlas and EBRAINS services designed to support brain researchers and clinicians.

To sum up: a healthier future starts with a deeper understanding of the brain. 

Know more about the resources developed by our scientific community, freely available to researchers on the EBRAINS platform. Create your EBRAINS account today: https://www.ebrains.eu/page/sign-up