Scientists could create an artificial human brain within the next 10 years to help with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorder.
Professor Henry Markram told delegates at the TED conference in Oxford that scientists had already successfully replicated elements of a rat’s brain.
“It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years,” he said.
Prof Markram, a member of the Blue Brain Project, which seeks to unravel the mysteries of brain function and dysfunction using laboratory data, said a simulated human brain could be invaluable in finding cures for mental illness.
“There are two billion people on the planet affected by mental disorder,” he said. “The project may give insights into new treatments.”
However, developing an artificial brain require huge technical resources as well as scientific and medical expertise. Prof Markram told delegates that one computer is needed to process the data from a single neuron, meaning that tens of thousands of machines would be needed to start mapping the complex functions of the human brain.
The scientists working on the Blue Brain Project use a “super computer”, a machine capable of handling millions of algorithms and data strings at once, to streamline this process.
Much of the team’s research centres on the neocortex of mammal brains, which is responsible for higher functions such as sensory perception, spatial reasoning, conscious thought, and speech and language.
Although individual neurons are unique, Prof Markram says his team have identified common neurological “circuits” in different brains.
“Even though your brain may be smaller, bigger, may have different morphologies of neurons, we do actually share the same fabric,” he said. “We think this is species-specific, which could explain why we can’t communicate across species.”
Professor Henry Markram told delegates at the TED conference in Oxford that scientists had already successfully replicated elements of a rat’s brain.
“It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years,” he said.
Prof Markram, a member of the Blue Brain Project, which seeks to unravel the mysteries of brain function and dysfunction using laboratory data, said a simulated human brain could be invaluable in finding cures for mental illness.
“There are two billion people on the planet affected by mental disorder,” he said. “The project may give insights into new treatments.”
However, developing an artificial brain require huge technical resources as well as scientific and medical expertise. Prof Markram told delegates that one computer is needed to process the data from a single neuron, meaning that tens of thousands of machines would be needed to start mapping the complex functions of the human brain.
The scientists working on the Blue Brain Project use a “super computer”, a machine capable of handling millions of algorithms and data strings at once, to streamline this process.
Much of the team’s research centres on the neocortex of mammal brains, which is responsible for higher functions such as sensory perception, spatial reasoning, conscious thought, and speech and language.
Although individual neurons are unique, Prof Markram says his team have identified common neurological “circuits” in different brains.
“Even though your brain may be smaller, bigger, may have different morphologies of neurons, we do actually share the same fabric,” he said. “We think this is species-specific, which could explain why we can’t communicate across species.”
