Research News
The Human Brain Project connects specialists from neurosciences, genetics, simulation sciences, robotics and social sciences. The illustration shows a brain and neuronal structures. Photo: Defelipe Spain/HBP
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Presseinformation: 'Forscher wollen das menschliche Gehinr simulieren'
Simulating the Brain
"The brain is energy efficient, can work with incomplete data, is capable of learning and repairing itself. To imitate these capabilities would revolutionise information technology, medicine and our society", says Prof. Dr Henre Markram from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He heads the 'Human Brain Project' bringing scientists from Lausanne, Jülich, Munich and Heidelberg together in order to simulate the human brain true to detail.
The thirteen partners from nine EU countries contribute competences to the project that range from neuro sciences, over genetics, high performance computing, information technology and robotics, to aspects regarding social sciences and ethics. Since May 2011, they and five other projects are contenders in the final round for FET flagship funding. They will investigate the feasibility of the project until the middle of 2012. One purpose of FET flagships is to open doors for new technologies. "The 'Human Brain Project' will give a huge boost to information technology", says Prof. Dr Thomas Lippert, Head of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and one of the co-directors of the 'Human Brain Project'. "We will develop more powerful computers in order to calculate detailled models of the brain. In turn, the insights into how the brain works could inspire new ways of data processing."
Neuroscientists from Jülich likewise are part of the team. "Amongst other things, we are working on a virtual human brain, capturing the spatial layout from the molecular level to the complex functional system. This multimodal brain map can become a sort of navigation system in the 'Human Brain Project'", says Prof. Dr Katrin Amunts.
