Human brain scans are unique, much like fingerprints

Nature : A recent effort to map the human brain has revealed that some of its patterns of neural circuitry are unique to the individual and, like fingerprints, can be used to identify him or her. In their study published in Nature Neuroscience, Emily Finn of Yale University and her colleagues describe how they divided brain scans from 1200 people into 268 regions, each measuring about 2 cm³ and comprising hundreds of millions of neurons. Although they found that the neural circuitry of some regions of the brain is similar in most people, they discovered that in certain areas, such as the frontal lobes, the circuitry differs significantly between individuals and may even serve as an indication of intelligence. The researchers were also able to match two brain scans taken from the same person doing different things at different times. Although much remains to be learned about the underlying physical structures of the brain, Finn says that brain scans could have many uses, such as providing a way to tailor medical therapies to specific patients.