June 06, 2005
IBM to simulate the "entire brain":
New Scientist is reporting that IBM will attempt to simulate the "entire brain" in collaboration with the Swiss Brain Mind Insititute using a specially modified computer system dubbed 'Blue Brain'.
It seems from the news reports that the system will attempt to simulate the physical properties of individual neurons and their connections - a science known as neuroinformatics. Both the New Scientist story, and another from Business Week, are a little light on detail however.
They both suggest that an initial project will be to simulate the structure and function of neocortical columns - the three dimensional, highly interconnected layers of neurons, famously found to be an essential part of the visual cortex.
Although impressive, this seems a far cry from simulating the 'entire brain', which would involve simulating 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses in real-time.
This assumes, of course, there is a good enough understanding of how each neuron and synpase works - a science which is still very much in development.
The project is long-term however (a decade is mentioned), so hopefully it will allow for some important developments, even if physically simulating the entire brain might be a little far fetched - even in the near future.
Link to New Scientist article 'Mission to build a simulated brain begins'.
Link to Business Week article 'Blue Brain: Illuminating the Mind'.
