[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5776\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EThe one billion euro brain\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EUR 1 billion Human Brain Project (HBP), one of the EU\u0027s flagship research projects for the next 10 years, will employ supercomputers to reconstruct a human brain and then use it to control robots and test out drug treatments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs people live longer, brain diseases like Alzheimer\u0027s have become some of society\u0027s most pressing problems. The hope is that the HBP will help scientists test and develop treatments because they\u0027ll be able to see how they work on the whole brain, not just a part.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday you have scientists working on a genetic, behavioural or cognitive level, and then you have informaticians, chemists and mathematicians. They all have their own understanding of how the brain functions and is structured.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We want to reach a unified understanding of the brain and the simulation on a supercomputer is the tool,\u2019 says Professor Henry Markram, who is coordinating the project from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, in Switzerland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers on the HBP, including many of Europe\u0027s best neuroscientists, doctors, physicists and mathematicians, will use a progressively scaled-up, multilayered simulation running on a supercomputer. In total, over 80 institutions are involved in this project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018The biggest success for me would be if, after 10 years, we have a new model for neuroscience where everyone works together.\u2019\u0026amp;nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Henry Markram, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland.\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\nProf. Markram\u0027s fascination with the brain began with a school assignment in his native South Africa. He was 14, and as he sat in the library reading about depression, he was astonished to discover there might be \u2018molecular explanations to mental illness\u2019 that could be treated with drugs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn HBP, scientists will build a model of the brain that will help them study those drug treatments. \u2018A meticulous virtual copy of the human brain would enable basic research on brain cells and circuits or computer-based drug trials,\u2019 explains Prof. Markram.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, it\u2019s not just medicine that will benefit \u2013 this computerised model of the brain will revolutionise information technology, allowing experts to design computers, robots and other devices far more powerful and intelligent than any we know today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers want to build neuromorphic, or brain-like, computers which would have processors that can learn, mimicking our brains. In other words, they want to throw new light on questions we humans have been asking since the dawn of times: what does it mean to perceive, to think, to remember and to learn?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStarting with the genes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the HBP is ambitious. The brain contains nearly 100 billion neurons organised into networks with 100 trillion total connections, all firing split-second spikes of voltage in a broth of complex biological molecules in constant flux.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022img_legend\u0022 style=\u0022float: left;\u0022\u003E \u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Henry Markram is the Human Brain Project coordinator and leads the HBP Brain Simulation Division. \u00a9 EPFL\u0022 height=\u0022299\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Brain-7-Henry_Markram.jpeg\u0022 title=\u0022Henry Markram is the Human Brain Project coordinator and leads the HBP Brain Simulation Division. \u00a9 EPFL\u0022 width=\u0022200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EHenry Markram is the Human Brain Project coordinator and leads the HBP Brain Simulation Division. \u00a9 EPFL\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003Cem\u003EHenry Markram is the Human Brain Project coordinator and leads the HBP Brain Simulation Division. \u00a9 EPFL\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E The HBP team will start by using supercomputers to investigate, even from the molecular level, how and which genes intervene in the process of information transferring in the neurons. The team will start working very soon on developing a detailed computer simulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the model becomes more accurate and behaves more like a brain, the team will couple it to a robot and watch it \u2018learn\u2019. They\u2019ll then be able to trace the chain of events from molecules to cognition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhisper it quietly, but the Human Brain Project really does have the potential to revolutionise technology, medicine and neuroscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The biggest success for me would be if, after 10 years, we have a new model for neuroscience where everyone works together,\u2019 remarks Prof. Markram. \u2018It\u2019s about a new foundation.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/brainMonth_button-180px.jpg\u0022 width=\u0022180\u0022 height=\u0022150\u0022\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-kmiblxqqymc6hpgwe9voljlexde4-nnh-g2fgoj-cca\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-kMibLxqQyMc6HPGwe9VoljLexDE4_nNh_G2FGOj-ccA\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]