Another sensational scientific achievement - and this time truly deserves to go down in history. Researchers at the Allen Institute in the USA and the University of Telecommunications in Japan have completely digitized the cortex of the mouse brain and created an unprecedented virtual model. They managed to combine 9 million neurons and 26 billion synapses into a single working system. This was announced during the SC25 supercomputing conference.
One of the project managers, Anton Arkhipov, called this achievement "a huge leap in technological progress." According to him, for the first time, it has been proven that such a complex simulation can be implemented practically and effectively. This means that in the near future, the possibility of even deeper neurobiological analyses, and even the creation of a human brain model, will become clear.
The created model covers 86 interconnected functional areas of the brain. The fastest supercomputer in the world - Fugaku - was chosen to use the simulation. It performs quadrillions of operations per second and simultaneously synchronizes billions of virtual neural connections.
Although the real mouse brain consists of about 70 million neurons, this is about eight times more than in the simulated brain: researchers were able to observe in real time how neurons "burn," how excitation waves propagate, and how a small disturbance in one area affects another point.
Using simulation, scientists studied the interaction between the two hemispheres, how cognitive processes and attention-related activity are formed. It was almost impossible to do this in a living brain without invasive operations - but the virtual brain eliminated such limitations.
In addition, the new digital map makes it possible to test neurological diseases and various brain disorders on animals without repeated experiments. This is already a big step for medicine and bioethics.
The researchers' next goal is to further enlarge the model, first creating a complete virtual form of the mouse brain, and then paving the way for a digital copy of the human brain.
Undoubtedly, a new era in neurotechnology is just beginning.
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