Researchers Simulate Building Block of Rat's Brain

slick_shoes passes on an article in the Guardian about the Blue Brain project in Switzerland that has developed a computer simulation of the neocortical column — the basic building block of the neocortex, the higher functioning part of our brains — of a two-week-old rat. (Here is the project site.) The model, running on an IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer, simulates 10,000 neurons and all their interconnections. It behaves exactly like its biological counterpart. Thousands of such NCCs make up a rat's neocortex, and millions a human's. "Project director Henry Markram believes that with the state of technology today, it is possible to build an entire rat's neocortex. From there, it's cats, then monkeys and finally, a human brain."

wrong order

[Anonymous Coward]

it's rats,politicians, cats, then monkeys and finally, a human brain

Re:At what point...

[Xzzy]

Or subjugate us as their power source.. one of the two.

I know it's coming...

[arotenbe]

So, when do we get the inevitable joke about Linux being ported to the human brain?

why stop at the human brain sim?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not pull together 4x more neurons and interconnections than humans have. Then maybe IBM will have... "Dave, I'm feeling much better now!"

Hitler 2.0

[Tablizer]

believes that with the state of technology today, it is possible to build an entire rat's neocortex. From there, it's cats, then monkeys and finally, a human brain."

It would be satisfying to resurrect the consciousness of people in the past that you hate, and beat the living @&#%! out of them. The guy who invented neckties and the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard layout come to mind. Put them in Doom and blast 'em up.
   

Re:At what point...

[Tablizer]

When computer intelligence can give a convincing argument for doing so.

"I think, therefore I [ERROR: conscience.DLL missing. Program Aborted]
       

Re:wrong order

[RincewindTVD]

Trust me, they are completely different, never try to keep a politician as a pet, the mess is horrifying.

Re:A long way off yet

[MyLongNickName]

Pare it down enough, and it might begin posting on Slashdot!

And after humans....

[mindwhip]

Dolphins?

Re:Neocortex too complex

[FluxIntegrator]

I completely agree with you, but it is even worse. Neuroscience researchers are not even *close* to modeling a brain in a computer. There model of the neuron itself is fundamentally flawed. I know because, as of right now, I am fairly certain that I am the *only* person in the world that has even a *clue* how the brain works. I put two and two together a couple of months ago and had a "eureka!" moment where the actual role of neurons in the brain became clear to me. I have not shared my finding with anybody yet, nor do I plan on sharing them. Humanity is much too dangerous at this point.

I have successfully simulated 256 neurons in the brain and the results are already extremely impressive compared with anything that exists out there. The way I was able to simulate 256 neurons without a supercomputer *in real-time* was that I have discovered the "algorithm" of the neuron. In a year or two I will be the first person to simulate the entire brain. I always thought that some guy in his basement would be the first to understand the human brain. I just never thought it would be me.

Re:Neocortex too complex

[FluxIntegrator]

The model is still completely wrong. Learning is not a result of a change in the synapse strength, as *every* model to date, other than mine, has *assumed*. Now, I am not sure if you keep up to date with scientific research, but this year a very important discovery was made regarding neurons. If you put two and two together you will come up with the *correct* model of the neuron. It has to do with the *phase* of neuronal spiking, rather the frequency. Each neuron actually does three things. First, it generates a permuation of the input. Second, it attempts to minimize the inter-spike timing (this is equivalent to attempting to solve a 10000 city TSP (Travelling Salesman Problem) in 10000D space). And third, it acts as a low-pass filter.

Using this model of the neuron I have been able to simulate 256 neurons in the brain. I am currently working on a distributed model for deployment on the Internet. It is going to take around 40 million computers to simulate a human brain. At this point I am still trying to figure out how I am going to get that many people to devote computer time.