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A computer simulation could eventually allow neuroscience to be carried out in silico.
By Duncan Graham-Rowe
Brain power: This representation shows the connectivity of the 10,000 neurons and 30 million
connections that make up a single neocortical column. (The different colors correspond to different
levels of electrical activity.) Having created a biologically accurate computer model of a neocortical
column scientists are now planning to model the entire human brain within just 10 years.
An ambitious project to create an accurate computer model of the brain has reached an impressive
milestone. Scientists in Switzerland working with IBM researchers have shown that their computer
simulation of the neocortical column, arguably the most complex part of a mammal's brain, appears to
behave like its biological counterpart. By demonstrating that their simulation is realistic, the researchers
say, these results suggest that an entire mammal brain could be completely modeled within three years,
and a human brain within the next decade.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19767/
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