It's Monday, January 8th, 2018, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds.

I'm Andrei Viscontas.

And I'm Keshwar Hari.

Each week, we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and society collide.

We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all matters.

You can find us online at inquiring.

Show, on Twitter, at

inquiring show, and on Facebook. And you can subscribe to the show on iTunes or any other

podcasting app. It's been a few years since President Obama's Brain Initiative, in which

so many of my colleagues were scrambling to put in grants as more money was being thrown at scientists who are studying the brain.

And it's been a while since I've been to any kind of a brain mapping conference.

So I thought it was time.

Also, it was in Vancouver, which is a beautiful city.

So I went to the brain mapping conference this year.

And I... Wait, wait, you're saying like brain mapping like it's Google Maps.

Like what is what does that even mean brain mapping?

Oh, yeah, I guess. Yeah, I guess it's not in everybody's, you know, daily conversations.

So brain mapping is essentially using neuroimaging tools to map the brain.

You know, it's a conference that has been only around for, I would say, maybe a couple decades at most.

Because neuroimaging really came into the four in the 90s when we started to have non-invasive ways of watching brain activity, essentially.

And you're talking about brain mapping down to a resolution of what?

Like down to the neuron level?

...