Researchers from the IBM Almaden Research Lab and the University of Nevada have used the BlueGene L supercomputer to model half a virtual mickey mouse brain.

8 million neurons, up to 6,300 synapses or connections with other nerve fibers: a challenge for simulation.

Researchers explain that such a modeling initiative puts tremendous constraints on computation, communication and memory capacity of any computing platform. The BlueGene L supercomputer was used to run the complex simulation for 10 seconds at a speed that was 10 times slower than real life. Useless but impressive...


Source: BBC News, last week.
For those who do not know:
- A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation, at the time of its introduction. The term "Super Computing" was first used by New York World newspaper in 1920 to refer to large custom-built tabulators IBM made for Columbia University. According to this website, BlueGene L is still number 1 but Baker is coming its way...
- Chemical synapses are specialized junctions through which the cells of the nervous system signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow the neurons of the central nervous system to form interconnected neural circuits. They are thus crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. They provide the means through which the nervous system connects to and controls the other systems of the body. A chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle cell is called a neuromuscular junction; this type of synapse is well-understood.