The Blue Brain Project

An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level, was launched today. The “Blue Brain” project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM’s Blue Gene design.

The virtual brain will hopefully shed light on human cognition (perception, memory and perhaps consciousness). It will be the first time humans will be able to observe the electrical code our brains use to represent the world, says Henry Markram, director of Brain and Mind Institute in Switzerland. It may also help us understand certain malfunctions of the brain’s “microcircuits”, which lead to psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and depression.

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