Human Brain Project researchers in Tampere University, Finland, made a comprehensive analysis of network models of neuron-astrocyte interactions and proposed how to systematically describe and categorise these interaction schemes. This is the first time such a detailed analysis on this type of computational models was conducted. Results were published in Neuroinformatics.

An interview with Gitte Knudsen on the potential of psychedelics, the biggest challenges in the field and how the HBP has not only fostered interdisciplinary collaboration but - in her view, more importantly – trust among researchers.

The EU-funded Human Brain Project (HBP) comes to an end in September and celebrates its successful conclusion today with a scientific symposium at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ). The HBP was one of the first flagship projects and, with 155 cooperating institutions from 19 countries and a total budget of 607 million euros, one of the largest research projects in Europe. Forschungszentrum Jülich, with its world-leading brain research institute and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, played an important role in the ten-year project.

Researchers of the Human Brain Project have developed a wide range of digital tools that facilitate the study and integration of insights from different scales of the brain. The HBP book “An extensive guide to the tools developed” provides a comprehensive snapshot of a set of these tools. The 108-page book is freely availble as PDF or Print.

With the Human Brain Project (HBP) successfully concluding in September, we are excited to present a new brochure highlighting some of the project’s major achievements. As a European Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship – a long-term and large-scale research initiative – the HBP has ambitiously pioneered digital brain research.

Energy consumption is one of the main problems facing modern computing. The Human Brain Project has tackled the efficiency issue – potentially changing how computers will be thought of and designed in the future.

Professor Steve Furber is a researcher and group leader at the University of Manchester. He has had a long career as a computer scientist and hardware engineer. Within the Human Brain Project (HBP), he has worked within the focus area of neuromorphic computing and as a member of the Science and Infrastructure Board. We spoke about how these disciplines can help reach a better understanding of the human brain.

Where in the brain does consciousness emerge? Is it possible to detect the faintest signs of consciousness after it has been lost? Is there a way to restore consciousness, “bringing back” a patient after severe brain injury? Scientists in the HBP have been attempting to unravel these and other mysteries of consciousness and have made significant progress: they have developed new methods to better distinguish different states of consciousness on the brain level – from awake to asleep, to anaesthetised, to impaired due to brain injury or disease – and have made advances towards potential new treatments and better care …

In order for us to turn sensory information into memories, networks of interconnected neurons in our brains need to work together in concert. Human Brain Project (HBP) researchers set out to better understand the dynamics of such networks. To this end, they had a close look at the relationships between single neurons and neuron populations across multiple brain regions in rats, specifically, the cortical areas and the hippocampus.

We are talking to Dr. Mihai Petrovici, a physicist and computational neuroscientist at the University of Bern. He leads a team that is working at the intersection of biological and artificial intelligence.