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Sep 8, 2009 05:57 PM | 39
When hackers want to break into a computer system, they often attempt to reverse engineer the operating software to better understand how it works (and, of course, its vulnerabilities). While researchers have for years taken a similar approach to better understanding parts of our gray matter, neuroscientists now say that within a decade it will be possible to create a digital model that replicates all functions of the human brain.
Though the brain has trillions of synapses, billions of neurons, millions of proteins, and thousands of genes, scientists have already begun to build detailed models of the mouse, rat, cat, primate and human brain, says Henry Markram, director of neuroscience and technology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, where he founded the Brain Mind Institute (BMI) in 2002. One of the keys to furthering this work is cooperation among scientists who are gathering together fragments of information collected over the past century about the how the brain works.
Such a model would reside on a supercomputer, allowing researchers to test theories about the brain and better understand how electrical-magnetic-chemical patterns in this mysterious organ convert into our perceptions. "We think we see with our eyes, but in fact most of what we 'see' is generated as a projection by your brain," Markram said in a statement. "So what are we actually looking at when we look at something ‘outside' of us?"
A better understanding of the brain could help doctors better treat brain diseases while reducing the number of animals required to conduct lab research. "There is no brain disease for which we really understand what has gone wrong in the processing, in the circuits, neurons or synapses," according to Markram, whose BMI Blue Brain Project has since 2005 been building simulations with the help of IBM supercomputers that reverse-engineer the brain at the molecular and cellular levels. Their ultimate goal is to model the entire brain.
Blue Brain isn't the only effort to reverse engineer the brain. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Defense Department's research arm, last year gave the IBM Almaden Research Center $4.9 million for a project called "SyNAPSE," an attempt to reverse-engineer the brain's computational abilities to better understand its ability to sense, perceive, act, interact and understand different stimuli. Although the brain is still not well understood, "there is enough quantitative data for us to be able to begin putting together the pieces," Dharmendra Modha, IBM Almaden's director of cognitive computing, said earlier this year at an event celebrating the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 125th anniversary. Modha predicted that by 2018 computers will be able to simulate the workings of the human brain.
In Scientific American's 2008 Special Report on Robots, Ray Kurzweil, CEO of Kurzweil Technologies, Inc., proposed that the fastest way to reverse engineer the brain may be to study the real thing. One condemned killer has already allowed his brain and body to be scanned, Kurzweil points out, and all 15 billion bytes of the now-digitized inmate can be accessed on the National Library of Medicine's Web site. Another option, according to Kurzweil: microscopic robots (or "nanobots") injected into the bloodstream and programmed to explore every capillary, monitoring the brain's connections and neurotransmitter concentrations.
Image: Activity in the brain's neocortex is tightly controlled by inhibitory neurons shown here, which prevent epilepsy (© Blue Brain Project; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)
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39 Comments
Add CommentWill this technology be capable of modifying behaviour?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am thinking in terms of reducing crime and birth rates.
Also create an unprecedented appetite for knowledge above all else.
The first behavior to be modified will be independent thought.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow many times do we (humans) need to see major "unintended consequences" before we learn?
If successful, wouldn't the replication of perception and thoughts produce "self awareness"? Will it get named Hal? If used for research on mental diseases, would the model brain be put into simulation of say schizophrenia? Would the model "report" on the differences between various "mental states" that scientists would programming into it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBeing that I am epileptic, I do want neuroscience to advance for the purpose of preventing and curing diseases such as my own and many other brain disorders, like Alzheimer's, Parkinsons, and schizophrenia. However, this talk of using the technology to modify or control people's behavior is Orwellian, to say the least. Let's hope the technology does not fall into the hands of people who want to "modify" or control the behavior of others.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about the parietal lobe which analyzes input from sensory organs? Is it possible that on receiving inputs from organs it may refuse to analyze further inputs for some period of time thereby creating a state of mind not attached to worldly affairs?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou're all right; this is scary! We should really stop experimenting with things. Who knows what unintended consequences might arise!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrecisely. Note the original poster. He is more than willing to modify thoughts and behaviors he considers immoral. Note how he treats large families as morally equivalent to crime.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWill this eventually become a VMWare product?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think some proper sandboxing is all that's needed to prevent the doomsday Skynet/Frankenstein scenarios that seem to be worrying some here.
Interesting... but whose brain will be reverse engineered? "Make sure you get the correct brain, Igor." Not Abby Normal's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe reverse engineering of a brain with its emergent property of consciousness will be the greatest acheivement of humans--this is the Faustian endeavor; this is the Singularity that Kurzweil has dream of. Finally, we'll be able to shut the magical-thinkers up for good---actually, probably not; you can punch them in the face with hard evidence for evolution and they'll continue to believe humans are their magical skydaddy's special creation.
Does anyone else see the potential for a great science-fiction thriller with that bit about how they are using imaging from the "condemned killer's brain?" hehehehe
I have no doubt that within a decade we will be able to "to create a digital model that replicates all functions of the human brain." Or at least all the relevant ones.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe interesting question is "Within which decade?" I doubt it will be the decade between 2010 and 2019.
Do we even understand the workings of the human brain enough to simulate or replicate them? I don't think so.
Are there any neuroscientists outside of these two projects that think we will have replication or simulation of the whole brain by 2019?
I have no doubt that within a decade we will be able to "to create a digital model that replicates all functions of the human brain." Or at least all the relevant ones.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe interesting question is "Within which decade?" I doubt it will be the decade between 2010 and 2019.
Do we even understand the workings of the human brain enough to simulate or replicate them? I don't think so.
Are there any neuroscientists outside of these two projects that think we will have replication or simulation of the whole brain by 2019?
All you worriers about genetic manipulation forget that we're already programmed to select our mates by a wide and pretty unpredictable variety of means, including smell, height, shape, functionality in society generally and specifically. Then you add your (unknown) genes to their (unknown) genes and produce a completely unknown human hybrid of unknown sex, height, intelligence, etc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd you're carrying on about unpredictable experiments?
Get real. You're just parroting like a Jeopardy contestant, tripping out on keywords.
It's Scientific American, not some dumb political blog. Shape up!
JKA: "Do we even understand the workings of the human brain enough to simulate or replicate them? "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can simulate anything. And we do. All the time. And from that simulation, we can further our understanding by being able to control the variables.
Accuracy is another issue.
What we are seeing here is an increase in the ability to simulate accurately, which means even better understanding.
By the way, has anyone successfully simulated or replicated the brain of a planaria or a seaslug or anything with less than a trillion or so interconnections?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo you think it's really possible to simulate all experiences of the mind? I have my doubts. What about responses to trauma and related irrational fears? Will modeling the human mind make it possible to help people who suffer as a consequence of trauma? I wonder if we can really understand how the human mind reorganizes itself in response to extreme fear and pain well enough to fully model the mind. We certainly need more than one brain to work from, as the mind's plasticity and different experiences of individuals have produced various personalities and tendencies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wanted to roughly echo loopsyel's comment. We can simulate brains now, but perhaps not to a useful level of detail. Climate simulations have gone through a similar evolution since the 1970s. Weather predictions are now noticeably, though not massively, more accurate. Work to model the brain will need to go through a similar evolution.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article mentions simulations being constructed around several simpler organisms, although planaria and seaslug are not mentioned specifically. At some point the number of neurons is so small that scale is no longer an interesting issue, only accuracy is. Work probably needs to be done to scale up computation on the one hand, and to increase accuracy of the computation on the other. One does not need to wait for the other to be completed.
I wanted to roughly echo loopsyel's comment. We can simulate brains now, but perhaps not to a useful level of detail. Climate simulations have gone through a similar evolution since the 1970s. Weather predictions are now noticeably, though not massively, more accurate. Work to model the brain will need to go through a similar evolution.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article mentions simulations being constructed around several simpler organisms, although planaria and seaslug are not mentioned specifically. At some point the number of neurons is so small that scale is no longer an interesting issue, only accuracy is. Work probably needs to be done to scale up computation on the one hand, and to increase accuracy of the computation on the other. One does not need to wait for the other to be completed.
Can I order my own Cameron Phillips now, please?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow does a "model" take plasticity into account?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"neuroscientists now say that within a decade it will be possible to create a digital model that replicates all functions of the human brain."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhich neuroscientists say this? The ones I've spoken with think that duplicating the human brain is a very complicated process "that may never happen." Like the flying car, or predicting the weather, this is something that seems relatively straightforward at first glance, but which is exponentially complex.
"Death to the Replicants!"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(Sorry, I couldn't resist. )
Apologies to Phil Dick, "Blade Runner" and the Androids who Dream of Electric Sheep.
I just answered my own question: The neuroscientists who believe the brain will be replicated in 10 years are those who are applying for grant money. Hype sells!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOur non-profit is a social intergration p[lace for people with injured brains - I would like to see these brains repaired but not to introduce an Orwillian Model
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaven't these guys heard of neuroplasticity? A brain scan only records the neuronal or synaptic activity over a short period of time. Wouldn't it make sense to do a series of scans before and after different types of therapy intended to address this murderer's emotional issues? Why focus only on the brain's computational abilities if you want to understand the brain's ability to sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli. The brain is an integral part of the body and it changes under different physical and emotional conditions. How children sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli is affected by how their emotional needs have been met by their earliest attachment figures and caregivers. The same can be said for adults. If they want to "understand how electrical-magnetic-chemical patterns in this mysterious organ convert into our perceptions," they will have to enlarge their study to include the impact of emotional development on every entity observed in their scans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, I used to have a plastic model of a skull. I suppose they could make one of a brain too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaven't these guys heard of neuroplasticity? A brain scan only records the neuronal or synaptic activity over a short period of time. Wouldn't it make sense to do a series of scans before and after different types of therapy intended to address this murderer's emotional issues? Why focus only on the brain's computational abilities if you want to understand the brain's ability to sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli. The brain is an integral part of the body and it changes under different physical and emotional conditions. How children sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli is affected by how their emotional needs have been met by their earliest attachment figures and caregivers. The same can be said for adults. If they want to "understand how electrical-magnetic-chemical patterns in this mysterious organ convert into our perceptions," they will have to enlarge their study to include the impact of emotional development on every entity observed in their scans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaven't these guys heard of neuroplasticity? A brain scan only records the neuronal or synaptic activity over a short period of time. Wouldn't it make sense to do a series of scans before and after different types of therapy intended to address this murderer's emotional issues? Why focus only on the brain's computational abilities if you want to understand the brain's ability to sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli. The brain is an integral part of the body and it changes under different physical and emotional conditions. How children sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli is affected by how their emotional needs have been met by their earliest attachment figures and caregivers. The same can be said for adults. If they want to "understand how electrical-magnetic-chemical patterns in this mysterious organ convert into our perceptions," they will have to enlarge their study to include the impact of emotional development on every entity observed in their scans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey say it will replicate all the functions of the human brain, but do they say it will do so at the aggregate scale of an entire human brain, or are they just talking about simulating all the types of components?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaven't these guys heard of neuroplasticity? A brain scan only records the neuronal or synaptic activity over a short period of time. Wouldn't it make sense to do a series of scans before and after different types of therapy intended to address this murderer's emotional issues? Why focus only on the brain's computational abilities if you want to understand the brain's ability to sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli. The brain is an integral part of the body and it changes under different physical and emotional conditions. How children sense, perceive, act, interact, and understand different stimuli is affected by how their emotional needs have been met by their earliest attachment figures and caregivers. The same can be said for adults. If they want to "understand how electrical-magnetic-chemical patterns in this mysterious organ convert into our perceptions," they will have to enlarge their study to include the impact of emotional development on every entity observed in their scans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo engineers need to know people's routes to work in order to simulate an internal combustion engine design? Those routes and the conditions encountered thereon will affect how the engine works, but one only needs to know the generalities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOnly ten years? They don't even have a decent model of how the brain works, much less how mind arises.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCan engineers know people's routes to work just by knowing how an internal combustion engine works?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo, but if all they're trying to do is learn how to better design and repair internal combustion engines, they don't have to.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLikewise meteorologists don't have to know where every raindrop will fall, or which comet brought which water molecule to Earth when, in order to make useful weather predictions.
If only we can induce "self" in a computer, it may pave way for studies on complex human behavioral patterns.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDr. P.N. Vijayakumar, Mysore, India
I'm with the skeptics on this one. I'm not holding my breath and will be very surprised if they succeed at simulating even the simplest animal brain by such a method.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"This" technology will allow researchers to ask questions. It's a model, on a computer. So, there wont be any behavior modification until the receiver that no such agency put into your teeth and a really big antenna in Switzerland come on line.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if the people involved in these attempts to recreate the human brain are truly interested in doing so to diagnose and treat neurological disorder? I hate to be such a cynic, but when I hear of such grand endeavors, I remind myself that despite all of our advances, we still have no cure for the common cold. In fact, there aren't a whole lot of cures for anything.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd the product of this attempt to reverse engineer the human brain may be something that resembles the human brain, but it will be far from a complete replica. However, it is a step in the right direction in terms of understanding and finding cures for neurological disorder. Let's just hope that once they accomplish it they concentrate on alleviating disease instead of focusing so much energy on behavior modification.
This is important research and we must work full to discover all the Brain machine interface technology. I am putting together useful Brain Machine interface research together and created a website called techdimwit.com check it out!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"One condemned killer has already allowed his brain and body to be scanned."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA supposedly scientifically advanced country, the United States can't even get rid of the barbaric death penalty. Socially, the U.S. is light years behind the civilized countries that have abolished the death penalty. "Technofascist" would be a fitting description of American society.