The Blue Brain Project is a brain research programme based in Switzerland that attempts to produce a computerised model of the mouse brain. The Brain and Mind Institute of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland began the study in May 2005.
God’s most valued creation is the human brain. Because of his brain, the man is intelligent. The world’s first virtual brain is known as Blue Brain. This suggests that a machine can do the same functions as a human brain. Scientists are currently working on developing an artificial brain that can think, respond, make decisions, and remember anything.
The basic goal is to transfer a human brain to a machine. So that a person can think and make decisions without exerting too much effort. Following the death of the physical body, the virtual brain will assume the role of the man. As a result, even after a person’s death, we will retain the information, intelligence, personality, sentiments, and memories of that individual, which can be applied to the advancement of human society.
INTRODUCTION
The Blue Brain Project is a computer simulation that attempts to reverse engineer the human brain and duplicate it at the molecular level. Henry Markham, a professor at the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, established the initiative in May 2005. The project’s goals are to achieve a thorough understanding of the brain and to enable the development of better and faster treatments for brain diseases.
Using microscopes and patch clamp electrodes, the researchers investigate slices of living brain tissue. Data is gathered on all of the many neuron types. This information is utilised to create biologically accurate models of neurons and neural networks in the cerebral cortex.
The simulations are performed on an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer. As a result, the term “Blue Brain” was coined. Michael Hines’ NEURON is at the heart of the simulation software, which is supplemented by various custom-built components.
The greatest simulations, as of August 2012, are of microcircuits with roughly 100 cortical columns (image above right). Around 1 million neurons and 1 billion synapses are used in these simulations. This is on a par with the size of a honey bee brain.
By the end of 2014, it is envisaged that a rat brain neocortical simulation (21 million neurons) would be completed. If sufficient funding is collected, a full human brain simulation (86 billion neurons) should be attainable by 2023.
WHAT IS BLUE BRAIN AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
IBM is currently working on the Blue Brain, a virtual brain. It would be the first virtual brain in the world. We will be able to scan ourselves into computers in 30 years. We can call it a Virtual Brain, which is an artificial brain that can act like a natural brain but is not one. It has the ability to think like a brain, make judgments based on prior experience, and respond naturally.
It is achievable with the help of a supercomputer with a large amount of storage capacity, processing power, and a human-to-artificial brain interface. The data held in the natural brain can be up loaded into the computer through this interface. As a result, anyone’s brain, knowledge, and intelligence can be preserved and used indefinitely, even after death.
VIRTUAL BRAIN REQUIREMENTS
Because of our intelligence, we have progressed today. Intelligence is a natural trait that cannot be taught. Some people have this ability, which allows them to think to a level that others cannot. Human society is constantly in need of such intellect and a smart brain to work with. However, after death, the intelligence is lost along with the body.
It is a problem to which the virtual brain provides a solution. Even after death, the brain and intelligence will carry on. We frequently have trouble remembering things like people’s names, birthdays, word spellings, good grammar, key dates, historical facts, and so on. Everyone wants to unwind in today’s hectic world.
Isn’t it possible to employ a machine to help with all of this? It’s possible that a virtual brain might be a superior answer. What if we uploaded ourselves into a computer, or if we just became conscious of a computer, or even if we lived in a computer as a programme?
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE?
To begin, a description of the basic ways in which a human can be uploaded into a computer is useful. Recently, Raymond Kurzweil published an interesting study on the subject. He covers both invasive and noninvasive procedures in it. The employment of nanobots, or extremely small robots, is the most promising. These robots will be small enough to go through our bloodstream.
They will be able to monitor the activity and structure of our central nervous system by travelling into the spine and brain. They will be able to create a computer interface that is as similar to our thoughts as possible while we are still in our biological form.
Nanobots might potentially scan the structure of our brain, giving us a detailed picture of how each neuron is connected. They’d also keep track of the brain’s current state. When this information is entered into a computer, it will be able to function in the same way that we do. All that’s needed is a computer with sufficient storage and processing capability.
HUMAN BRAIN FUNCTIONING
The magical neurological system controls the human ability to feel, interpret, and even see in computer-like calculations. Yes, the nervous system is almost magical because we can’t see it, yet it works by sending electric impulses throughout your body.
The nervous system is one of the world’s most “intricately organised” electron systems. Even engineers haven’t come close to replicating the nervous system’s tiny and accurate circuit boards and processors.
To comprehend this system, one must first grasp the three basic roles it performs: sensory input, integration, and motor output.
Sensory input:
Sensory cells, also known as Neurons, convey a message to the brain when our eyes perceive something or our fingertips touch a warm surface. Because we are putting things into your brain through your senses, this action of getting information from your surroundings is called sensory input.
Interpretation:
The interpretation of items we’ve felt, tasted, and touched with our sensory cells, also known as neurons, into responses that the body recognises is known as integration. This is all done in the brain, where a large number of neurons collaborate to understand the world.
Output of the motor:
Once our brain has processed all of the information we’ve gathered, whether by touch, taste, or any other sense, it sends a message to effector cells, such as muscle or gland cells, which carry out our orders and act on the environment. We see, hear, feel, smell, and make decisions based on what we see, hear, feel, smell, and see.
SIMULATION OF THE BRAIN
Past events in the Natural and Simulated Brains are compared. To recall things, we compel neurons to reflect particular states of the brain indefinitely, or this happens implicitly for any fascinating or serious issue.
Processing: When we make a decision, consider something, or compute something, our neural circuitry performs logical and arithmetic computations. To produce the output, the stored experience and current inputs are combined, and the statuses of some neurons are altered.
Brain Simulator:
Input: The artificial nervous system can be developed in a similar manner. By substituting neurons with silicon chips, the scientist has produced artificial neurons. These neurons have also been studied to see if they can receive input from sense cells. As a result, these artificial neurons may receive electric impulses from sense cells.
INTERPRETATION
Registers can be used to interpret the electric impulses received by the artificial neuron. The various values in these registers will represent various mental states.
Output:
Similarly, the output signal can be supplied to the artificial neurons in the body, which will be received by the sensory cell, based on the states of the register.
Memory:
Using secondary memory to save the data permanently is not impossible. Similarly, the required states of the registers can be permanently saved, and this information can be received and used when needed.
Processing:
Similarly, the computer may make decisions by using stored states and received data, as well as executing arithmetic and logic calculations.
Natural Intelligence
Input:
Neurons are responsible for message transmission in the nervous system of our bodies. Sensory cells in the body get the information. Electric impulses are generated by this sensory cell and received by neurons. These electric impulses are transmitted to the brain through neurons.
Interpretation:
The electric impulses that neurons send to the brain are interpreted in the brain. In the brain, various states of numerous neurons are used to interpret information.
Output:
The brain sends electric impulses signifying reactions based on the states of the neurons, which are then received by sense cells in our body and delivered to respond neurons in the brain at the time.
Memory:
Certain neurons in our brain are permanently associated with certain situations. Our brain represents this state when it is needed, and we can recall it.
NEURON
The NEURON package is the principal programme used by the BBP for neuronal simulations. Michael Hines of Yale University and John Moore of Duke University created this in the 1990s. It’s written in C++, FORTRAN, and C. The software is still in active development and is currently at version 7.2 as of July 2012.
It’s free and open source software, with both the source code and binaries accessible for download on the website. In 2005, Michael Hines and the BBP team cooperated to adapt the package to the Blue Gene supercomputer’s massively parallel architecture.
Neuron’s Workflow
The simulation process entails creating virtual cells based on the methods discovered to characterise real neurons. The algorithms and settings are tailored to the age, species, and stage of sickness of the simulated animal. Every single protein in a cell is mimicked, and there are roughly a billion of them.
A network skeleton is first constructed using all of the different types of generated neurons. The cells are then joined according to the laws that have been discovered through experimentation. Finally, the neurons are activated, bringing the simulation to life.Visualization software is used to examine emergent behaviour patterns.
The cortical column is a basic unit of the cerebral cortex. Each column can be mapped to a single function; for example, each whisker in rats has its own column.
A rat cortical column is about the size of a pinhead and contains about 10,000 neurons. As of November 2011, the most recent simulations have around 100 columns, 1 million neurons, and 1 billion synapses.
The total number of columns in a real rat is roughly 100,000, while humans have around 2 million.
Multiscale simulation techniques are being developed, in which active areas of the brain are represented in great detail but quiet parts are not.
A column model is run every two weeks. The simulations are based on observations made in live neurons. Emergent features are observed to necessitate ever-larger networks. The goal is to provide an universal simulation tool that makes building circuits simple.
There are also plans to connect the brain simulations to avatars who live in a virtual world and, eventually, to robots who interact with the actual world. The ultimate goal is to comprehend and replicate human consciousness.
BBP-SDK
The Blue Brain Project – Software Development Kit (BBP-SDK) is a collection of software classes (APIs) that enable researchers to use and evaluate models and simulations. The SDK is a C++ library with Java and Python wrappers.
SUPERCOMPUTERS/ COMPUTER HARDWARE
P/Blue Gene IBM’s Blue Gene supercomputer is the main machine used by the Blue Brain Project. This is where the term “Blue Brain” was coined. EPFL received a Blue Gene/L as a “technology demonstrator” from IBM in June 2005. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in the IBM press statement.
This computer was upgraded to a Blue Gene/P in June 2010. CADMOS manages the machine, which is located on the EPFL Lausanne campus (Google map) (Center for Advanced Modeling Science).
Technical specs for Blue Gene/P
- There are 4,096 quad-core nodes in all.
- Each core is a PowerPC 450 with a clock speed of 850 MHz.
- There are 56 teraflops and 16 terabytes of RAM in total.
- Wired as a 16x16x16 3D torus with four racks in a row.
- GPFS parallel file system, 1 PB of disc capacity
- Linux SuSE SLES 10 is the operating system.
In November 2009, this machine was ranked as the world’s 99th fastest supercomputer.
HUMAN BRAIN UPLOADING
The uploading is made feasible by Nanobots, which are miniature robots.
These robots are small enough to pass through our circulatory system without being detected. They will be able to monitor the activity and structure of our central nervous system by travelling into the spine and brain.
They will be able to create a computer interface that is as similar to our thoughts as possible while we are still in our biological form. Nanobots might potentially scan the structure of our brain, giving us a complete picture of its connections.
When this knowledge is entered into a computer, it can work in the same way that we do. As a result, all of the information held in the brain will be transferred to the computer.
Benefits and drawbacks
Things can be recalled without effort, and decisions can be made without the presence of a person, thanks to the blue brain initiative. Even after a person’s death, his intelligence can be exploited. It is possible to comprehend the behaviour of several animals.
That is, the animals’ thoughts can be easily understood by interpreting the electric impulses from their brains. Direct nerve stimulation would allow the deaf to hear, and it would also help with a variety of psychological disorders.
Humans will grow increasingly reliant on computer systems as a result of the blue brain system. Hackers may take advantage of technical understanding, and computer infections will become a more serious menace.
The actual danger, though, is that people will be afraid of new technologies. This concern could lead to a massive backlash. Today, there is clear evidence of this type of dread in the context of human cloning.
What lessons can we take away from Blue Brain?
Brain simulations that are detailed and biologically authentic provide an opportunity to solve some fundamental concerns about the brain.
There are aspects of the brain that no existing experimental or theoretical methodologies can touch. Comprehending the complexities At the moment, the only way to explain why the brain requires so many different ion channels, neurons and synapses, a spectrum of receptors, and intricate dendritic and axonal arborizations is to use detailed, accurate brain simulations.
Applications:
- Data from the last 100 years is being gathered and tested.
- The Neural Code’s Deciphering
- Understanding Information Processing in the Neocortex
- A New Tool for Drug Discovery in the Field of Neurology
- A Worldwide Facility
- A Framework for Whole-Brain Simulations
- A Foundation for Molecular Brain Function Modeling
CONCLUSION
Finally, we will be able to transfer our consciousness into computers at some time in the future. The majority of the counter-arguments appear to be simple to overcome. They are either simplistic in their thinking or simply require more time for technology to advance. As we can see from the mix of biological and digital technology, the only substantial risks that have been highlighted have also been overcome. While there is still a long way to go, researchers have already learned a lot from their model.
Up to 100 cortical columns, 1 million neurons, and 1 billion synapses may be simulated simultaneously using the Blue Gene supercomputers. This is roughly similar to a honey bee’s cognitive power. Human cortices, on the other hand, have about 2 million columns. Despite the enormity of the task, it is expected that the project will be able to accomplish this by 2023.
