$1.6-B supercomputer to simulate human brain

An ambitious 10-year, $1.6-billion international supercomputer project is underway to produce a machine that could simulate the inner workings of the human brain. Dubbed the Human Brain Project, the effort involves scientists from various disciplines who will map the brain's neural connections, io9.com reported. "The entire team will consist of over 200 individual researchers in 80 different institutions across the globe. They're even comparing it to Large Hadron Collider in terms of scope and ambition, describing the Human Brain Project as 'Cern for the brain,'" io9.com said. Researchers will use a progressively scaled-up multilayer simulation running on a supercomputer, io9.com added. An initiative of the European Commission, the project will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Scientists involved in the project hope to understand and map the neural connections that generate emotions, thought, and even consciousness itself. Understanding, treating neurological disorders The io9.com report said the researchers also hope the insights from the project will help in the treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. No animals will be required for experimentation, it added. Scientists involved in the HBP project said they may build new platforms for "neuromorphic computing" and "neurorobotics." This would let researchers develop new computing systems and robots based on the architecture and circuitry of the brain. Researchers will try to reconstruct the human brain piece by piece, and bring these components into an overarching supercomputer. Swedish Nobel Laureate Torsten Wiesel said the support of the HBP is a critical step taken by the EC to "make possible major advances in our understanding of how the brain works." "HBP will be a driving force to develop new and still more powerful computers to handle the massive accumulation of new information about the brain, while the neuroscientists are ready to use these new tools in their laboratories," he added. Also, he said the research may give rise to fundamentally new computer architectures modeled after the brain. "This cooperation should lead to new concepts and a deeper understanding of the brain, the most complex and intricate creation on earth," he said. — LBG, GMA News