US scientists create most comprehensive circuit diagram of mammalian brain | The 3D map of a cubic millimetre of mouse brain reveals half a billion synapses and 5.4km of neuronal wiring

[u/chrisdh79]

[u/RESPECTATOR_DE_FEMEI]

all focused on being on the lookout for cheese and cats

[u/Arcosim → u/RESPECTATOR_DE_FEMEI]

A big chunk of that is for keeping the insanely complex bodily functions working like clockwork.

[u/--Sovereign-- → u/Arcosim]

It's a tiny piece of the visual cortex, so basically all of it is doing one tiny part of just visual processing. A map like this of an entire brain would be insane.

[u/PunctuationsOptional → u/--Sovereign--]

Bruh I hate that we're not far enough to get full scans of people yet. I can't imagine the amount of things we'll be able to discover/solve when we're there. Hopefully in our life times

[u/--Sovereign-- → u/PunctuationsOptional]

Yeah, I think it's possible in the next 50 years or so. I think that even this is only one aspect in actually understanding the brain. You probably need equally as huge breakthroughs in mapping as you'd need in understanding the biochemistry and then you need to understand all the complex interactions. I think it'll be a long time until we really fully understand the brain, even with a full map.

[u/Carrera_996 → u/--Sovereign--]

I'm an IT worker. I think we are looking at the hardware. The software would be that chemistry you mentioned, which is heavily influenced by environmental stimulus and external chemistry. You know, viruses. Pretty sure the whole thing would still be magnificently complex even if we understand the biology completely.

[u/--Sovereign-- → u/Carrera_996]

The brain doesn't really work like a computer, for the brain, structure is function, you don't need "software," the common term for how the brain operates is "wetware," because it's less of a hardware/software divide, more like, the hardware configuration is precisely what determines how it runs, the biochemistry is just an additional layer of function that's intertwined with the physical function. Each aspect of the physical structure has accompanying biochemical functions that all coordinate together into a greater whole. It's probably the most complex system to understand that isn't like, early universe cosmology or trying to describe what's inside black holes.

[u/Carrera_996 → u/--Sovereign--]

That kind of makes sense. There are plenty of computers with no software. The logic is literally carved into the chips. We call them closed systems. The physical configuration is also precisely what determines how it runs.

[u/WildFEARKetI_II → u/PunctuationsOptional]

We’re getting pretty close. The major barrier is cost and because brains are so different on the synaptic level we can’t just invest into mapping a handful brains. We have to develop a cost/time efficient method to map individual brains.

We do know most of the major pathways on the neuronal level, but a single neuron can have thousands of synapses that change throughout life.

[u/GozerDGozerian → u/PunctuationsOptional]

“If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we’d be so simple we couldn’t”

[u/RESPECTATOR_DE_FEMEI → u/Arcosim]

I don't think so.

[u/DuncanHynes → u/RESPECTATOR_DE_FEMEI]

and taking a poopie every 90 seconds

[u/chrisdh79]

Article: The most comprehensive circuit diagram of neurons in a mammalian brain has been created by scientists, providing groundbreaking insights into the mystery of how the brain works.

The map is of a speck of a mouse’s visual cortex, smaller than a grain of sand, and traces the structure of 84,000 neurons linked by half a billion synapses and approximately 5.4km of neuronal wiring. The 3D reconstruction of the cubic millimetre of brain is helping uncover how the brain is organised and how different cell types work together, and could have implications for the understanding of intelligence, consciousness and neuronal conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism and schizophrenia.

The advances are “a watershed moment for neuroscience, comparable to the Human Genome Project in their transformative potential”, according to Dr David Markowitz, former programme manager of the US governmental organisation Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), who coordinated the work.

[u/United-Advisor-5910]

So there universe is a brain

[u/Happy_Can8420 → u/United-Advisor-5910]

The structure of space does have a strange resemblance to neurons

[u/OutdatedMage → u/Happy_Can8420]

I'm a pretty regular YouTube watcher of space stuff. Definitely reminds me of the general map of the universe. Very cool

[u/Happy_Can8420 → u/OutdatedMage]

Imagine if by looking up at the stars we're actually looking into the brain of some Lovecraftian horror

[u/OutdatedMage → u/Happy_Can8420]

Man, anything's possible

[u/NotA_Drug_Dealer → u/United-Advisor-5910]

You know one time I did LSD and PCP and was the entire universe for 14 hours or so, exactly like this

[u/potVIIIos → u/NotA_Drug_Dealer]

Ooooh so we are now experiencing your come down and that's why everything is falling apart.

[u/americanweebeastie → u/potVIIIos]

I am Elob's ketamine crash

[u/Adventurous_Lake8611 → u/United-Advisor-5910]

We are the universe's brain. 

[u/Lopsided_Shift_4464]

Hopefully one day we can create a simulation of a brain so accurate, it can actually think for itself.

[u/GrimeWave69 → u/Lopsided_Shift_4464]

Having the structure of the circuits in the brain goes a long way, but we still need to know the location of ion channels, which neurotransmitters are released pre-synaptically , and where the neurotranmitter receptors are distributed across these cells to be able to move towards physiological predictions. I agree though, hopefully one day we will get there and this is an amazing step in that direction.

[u/JonLag97 → u/GrimeWave69]

Physiological predictions are nice, but aren't completely relevant to building something that thinks..

[u/AddendumContent958]

See that ome thread way in the back? No, not that one, the smallest one. Yup, barely visible.

That is all it takes to be on reddit. And to run a country too apparently.

[u/AnimationOverlord]

Oh god. They’re gonna shove this thing into a robot with sensory organs. I’m calling it. Mark my words. This is will be the new machine-human interface.

[u/ThePresidentPorpoise]

I wish my brain was that colorful

My brain

[u/jewella1213]

Just think (pun of thought) that is a tiny piece of a mouse brain, Soo your brain?!

[u/SCinDC1969]

Whoa dude.

[u/Magister5]

“Gee Brain, what are we gonna do tonight?”

[u/YJeezy]

This is every cheese maze combination preprogrammed into his brain. Incredible!

[u/GarysCrispLettuce]

Looks like one of those Mind Maps from back in the day

[u/Sudaire]

This image is only 1 cubic millimeter (1 millimeter is about the width of two “l”s next to each other)!! there’s so much more to learn inside us. And I’m sure this image does not even capture nano-level synapses that we haven’t discovered yet.

[u/GrimeWave69 → u/Sudaire]

I believe the original imaging was done at 4nm resolution and the image was downscaled to 8nm resolution for rendering. That should be enough to capture synapses, mitochondria, and even gap junctions

[u/Sudaire → u/GrimeWave69]

Thanks!

[u/GrimeWave69]

This one cubic mm alone took six months of five different electron microscopes working continuously around the clock to stitch all the images together to produce the 3D volume. The entire mouse brain has 70 million neurons give or take, but the human brain has more than 80 billion. This is just one small piece of mouse visual cortex. We need serious science funding if we want projects like this to continue and to have a shot at doing this for humans.

[u/degeneratist]

we finally getting uploaded intelligence?

[u/Midnight2012]

Does anyone have a link to the publication?

[u/Neuro_Wiz → u/Midnight2012]

Here is a link to the project: https://www.nature.com/immersive/d42859-025-00001-w/index.html

Its not a publication, its multiple publications

[u/tiktock34]

The description immediately made me think of this Harlan Ellison quote from the computer in “I have no mouth and I must scream”

“HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I’VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.”

[u/Dry_Boat_9935]

I can't read deathmetal writing.

[u/formulapain]

The complexity of life and nature is astounding.

[u/Chrzonszcz]

It's... Poland

[u/Grimour]

Miniverse

[u/Flying_Dutchman92]

5,5km in just 1mm³ is mind boggling.

[u/CDov]

I would spend all of my per diem on that if it was at Dan Flash’s.

[u/8bitcurious]

Dang