

Scientists find way to map brain's complexity - Husafan
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/10/us-brain-model-idUSTRE7392KU20110410

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DocSavage
Here's the original Nature paper:

[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature09880.html)

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ztan
This should make Ray Kurzweil happy.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1611007>

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Husafan
Combine with <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2421597> and perhaps
sentience gets achieved in a Google cluster. :)

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waqf
Is Tom Mrsic-Flogel, the lead researcher, any relation to Janko Mrsic-Flogel
who is credited as programmer on some early '80s videogames and as musician on
many later ones?

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hjrnunes
This was featured on a TED a while ago:

<http://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian_seung.html>

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DocSavage
There are many approaches to the connectome. One way to differentiate the
groups is by the imaging resolution at which they work. The Nature paper uses
light microscopy and patch clamping a sample of neurons (caveat -- haven't had
a chance to read the paper yet) while Seung's group works on methods to trace
electron microscopy, which is significantly higher res than light microscopy.
You can see individual synapses (e.g., the T-bars and post-synaptic densities)
in EM images while the light microscopy guys need another method to establish
true connectivity versus physical proximity, hence the patch clamping.
Ideally, you'd be able to tell whether two neurons are connected to each other
by looking at high-res images -- see the T-bar, lots of vesicles with
neurotransmitters, the post-synaptic densities on neighboring neurons. The
gold standard, though, is to be able to electrically establish connectivity.
You just can't do that gold standard for the vast number of neurons in the
brains.

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hjrnunes
True. Hadn't noticed this was a different group. I assumed it was connected
with Seung's group (other than by the subject itself, of course). A
fascinating subject though, and one that might bring yet more insight into the
recently reborn field of consciousness and subjective experience.

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scavenger
Kohonen forever.

