The human brain is so complex that it is hard to understand, even for scientists. A cubic millimeter of brain tissue can have hundreds of thousands of cells linked by miles of wiring. In 1979, Francis Crick said that the anatomy and activity in just a cubic millimeter of brain matter would forever exceed our understanding.
A team of over 100 scientists has now mapped the cellular activity and structure of a cubic millimeter of a mouse’s brain, less than one percent of its volume. They recorded 1.6 petabytes of data, equivalent to 22 years of non-stop high-definition video.
This is a milestone, and scientists believe that mapping the entire brain of a mouse is possible and worth doing. It has taken advances in technology and the development of new algorithms to make this possible.
The researchers found patterns in the wiring of the brain that had not been seen before, such as distinct kinds of inhibitory neurons that link only to certain other types of neurons.
The next goal is to map the entire brain of a mouse, which would take decades or centuries with current methods. Funding for brain mapping efforts is uncertain, with last year’s Congress cutting funding to the BRAIN initiative by 40 percent and this year’s President Trump signing a bill cutting support by another 20 percent.
Brain-mapping efforts require the invention of new technologies and software, and scientists need consistency and predictability of science funding to realize these long-term goals.
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