Dr.
Henry Markram and his research team have been working on a
remarkable, yet controversial, project. For the
last few months they have been feeding data into a giant
supercomputer in the basement of the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology. The four vending-machine-sized boxes each hold thousands
of microchips that are each programmed to act like brain cell. Cables
connect all the microchips to each other. In 2006 they turned on
their “Blue Brain” project and watched as nearly 10,000 virtual
neurons buzzed with a new life. In the midst of all of the electrical
signals sped across the cables, electrical activity started to
resemble real brain waves. Dr. Markram then decided that making an
entire representation of the brain is possible in his lifetime.
However the brain contains nearly 100 billion neurons with over 100
trillion total connections, all organized into biological molecules.
This is a huge undertaking that the likes of which has never been
attempted. In 2009 he proposed the Human Brain Project, which would
bring together more than 150 institutions around the world to work on
this project. Many critics of this project have raised questions
about the project. Many say that while the team made a computer
simulation of something, there is no way to show it was a brain slice
and not just random activity. Others state that it is way too
premature to invest in something like this when we haven't even
discovered the main principles of the brain.
The Blue Brain
When
I read into this article I was fascinated by it. For something as
close to us as our brain we know almost nothing about the true
functions of it. Dr. Markram began his career in medical school but
soon realized that he learned nothing about what happens to the brain
when all of these prescription drugs are used. He soon started his
career in neuroscience after dropping out of medical school. His son
was diagnosed with autism shortly after his work on the Blue Brain
had started. The hope that he has for a working computer model of the
brain is that people will be able to run tests and simulated drug
tests on it to find new ways to help mental illnesses. The
applications of this would be remarkable, being able to help all
sorts of people and urging in many new discoveries, but are we ready
is the question many people continue to bring up. Do we know enough
about the brain? I personally hope that the neuroscience community is
able to continue this project despite the doubts because the rewards
for success could be world changing.
