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University of California, Irvine researchers have mapped approximately 8 million cells in regions deep within the human brain, identifying 60 distinct types and revealing how they form cellular communities. The work offers a foundational reference for investigating brain systems affected by Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

The atlas focuses on the basal ganglia, a group of interconnected structures involved in movement, motivation, habits and decision-making. By examining both the molecular characteristics of cells and their locations, scientists are building a more precise picture of how these areas are organized and creating a basis for exploring what changes in disease.

The study, published in Cell, is one of two led by UC Irvine's Center for Neural Circuit Mapping in a coordinated publication package from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network. The university's team also contributed to four additional Cell papers on brain cells' molecular features and their similarities across species.

Directing UC Irvine's participation is Xiangmin Xu, chancellor's professor of anatomy and neurobiology in the School of Medicine and director of the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping, which brings together campus expertise in neuroscience, genomics, engineering and computational sciences to foster collaborative research on brain organization, function and neurological disorders.

"Knowing which cells exist in the brain is only part of the story," Xu said.

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