Scientists unveil new wiring diagram tracing millions of connections in a bit of brain tissue
Scientists from Seattle’s Allen Institute played a key role in accomplishing a feat that was said to be impossible 46 years ago: mapping the cells in a cubic millimeter of brain tissue and tracing their activity.
Over 150 researchers collaborated on the $100 million effort known as the Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program to create a detailed 3D map of a cubic millimeter taken from a mouse’s brain and to understand how the 200,000 brain cells work together. “There are many thousands of neuroscientists who study the cerebral cortex, and pretty much everyone who studies the cerebral cortex would like to be able to know what are the sources of inputs to any given cell within the cortex, and what are the outputs of that cell,” said Clay Reid, a senior investigator at the Allen Institute. “That’s what such a complete data set allows one to study.”
This breakthrough underscores the cutting-edge research emerging from Washington state and its deep national collaborations that are spearheading groundbreaking scientific discoveries.