Dynamic multi-scale modelling of primate visuo-motor systems

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The human brain is the most complex system known to science. It contains tens of billions of neurons, which communicate through an intricate network of trillions of connections. Neuroscience is a very active field of basic research, and information about how the brain works is being amassed so quickly that is has become important to invest separate research effort to quantitatively integrate diverse research results into a coherent picture. For this purpose, computational models are needed that are both large in scale and fine in detail, and which contain layers of abstraction that provide insight without sacrificing realism. This project advances this goal by developing new computer simulation technology that will allow very large scale, accurate simulations of brain tissue. The degree of detail and realism in these simulations will vary across different parts of the brain, and over time, to focus computational power on the key areas at each instant. To ensure that computer simulations that use this technology will provide insight into brain function, a hierarchy of abstractions will be developed, which constantly link fine detail of simulations to large-scale information processing functions of many cells. This technology will provide a foundation on which we can build computer models of the brain that have realistic anatomy, realistic patterns of neural activity, and realistic information processing capabilities. This will ultimately advance our understanding of brain function and facilitate development of artificial systems that understand the world as we do.