Mapping the brain

Oh well, I've fallen to looking through slashdot for blog ideas.  Suppose it had to happen eventually.  Something did catch my eye though, some folks over at the Univesity of Utah have devised a way of mapping the entire neural network of the brain so the task is actually feasible.  Admittedly I don't really follow all the techinical jargon, but what I gather is that attempting to slice the brain apart piece by piece and take images of each slice and then map the neural circutry from those images is like the worst jigsaw puzzle ever, so brute forcing it would take decades.  Apparently they've now developed a framework for an automated systemby putting together various nifty pieces of software into one giant process, I suppose putting the brain on an assembly line...err dissassembly line.  Now we just have to sit back and wait for all of the brain-tapping virtual reality movies of the 80's to start coming true.

Posted by Ben Matics on April 09, 2009 at 01:28 am EST

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