Since 2009, the ENIGMA Consortium has brought together over 2,000 brain researchers from 47 countries to coordinate the largest neuroimaging studies of over 30 brain diseases – a global effort driven by the expertise and vision of many in this very audience. This global alliance reflects the shared vision, mutual support, and collective power of the neuroimaging community, to tackle questions that no single lab can address on its own. ENIGMA began by tackling the replication crisis in brain imaging genetics, uncovering over 500 common and rare genetic and epigenetic variants that influence brain structure, function, and the speed of brain aging (Grasby et al., Science, 2020; Brouwer et al., Nature Neuroscience, 2022). These findings laid the groundwork for broader studies: today, ENIGMA's 30 disease-focused working groups coordinate the largest MRI, DTI, and fMRI studies in psychiatry (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD, addiction, OCD), neurology (e.g., epilepsy, Parkinson's, ataxia, neuro-HIV, TBI, chronic pain), and several neurodevelopmental brain disorders (anorexia, conduct disorder, Tourette syndrome, neurogenetic syndromes). By applying rigorous, consensus-driven workflows to vast global datasets, ENIGMA is revealing unexpected disease subtypes, risk factors, and treatment effects, identifying emerging principles that connect and distinguish multiple brain disorders, linking to neuroscientific findings at cellular and molecular scales (Larivière et al., ENIGMA Toolbox, Nature Methods, 2021).
ENIGMA's impact extends globally through initiatives such as ENIGMA India, Pakistan, and the ENIGMA-U education program, fostering open collaboration, training, and opportunities for all. In this talk, we will outline major findings to date and examine how AI-driven methods may reshape the landscape of brain research. With generative AI, vision-language models, and multimodal brain decoding, we are on the cusp of new possibilities – from decoding disease mechanisms to designing targeted treatments. The global quest to alleviate brain diseases is within our reach – a collective endeavour that is greatly empowered by the OHBM community, supporting us all in our shared mission to bring life-changing discoveries to all corners of the globe.
For more on how to participate, see:
http://enigma.ini.usc.edu.