Blue Brain’s success in modeling the rat cortical column has driven the development of the Brain Simulation Facility and has demonstrated the feasibility of the project’s general strategy. But, this is only a first step.
The human brain is an immensely powerful, energy efficient, self-learning, self-repairing computer. If we could understand and mimic the way it works, we could revolutionize information technology, medicine and society. To do so we have to bring together everything we know and everything we can learn about the inner workings of the brain's molecules, cells and circuits. With this goal in mind, the Blue Brain team has recently come together with approximately 87 other European and international partners to propose the Human Brain Project (HBP), which was selected as one of two EU FET Flagships. The HBP team will include many of Europe’s best neuroscientists, doctors, physicists, mathematicians, computer engineers and ethicists. The goal is to build on the work of the Blue Brain Project and on work by the other partners to integrate everything we know about the brain in massive databases and in detailed computer models. This will require breakthroughs in mathematics and software engineering, an international supercomputing facility more powerful than any before and a strong sense of social responsibility.
Experimental and clinical data is accumulating exponentially. Computers powerful enough to meet the project’s initial requirements are already here. As technology progresses and the project discovers new principles of brain design, it will build ever more realistic models. The benefits for society will be huge, even before it achieves its final goals. The HBP’s thirst for computing power will drive the development of new technologies for supercomputing and for scientific visualization. Models of the brain will revolutionize information technology, allowing us to design computers, robots, sensors and other devices far more powerful, more intelligent and more energy efficient than any we know today. Brain simulation will help us understand the root causes of brain diseases, to diagnose them early, to develop new treatments, and to reduce reliance on animal testing. The project will also throw new light on questions human beings have been asking for more than two and a half thousand years. What does it mean to perceive, to think, to remember, to learn, to know, to decide? What does it mean to be conscious? In summary, the Human Brain Project has the potential to revolutionize technology, medicine, neuroscience, and society.