One California-based researcher said Tuesday he and his colleagues may be able to reproduce real-time brain activity in an artificial model the size of a human brain using just under 1 million computer processors by 2016.Eugene Izhikevich, an award-winning researcher at The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego is a published author and specializes in nonlinear dynamical systems.
John Hopkins, a TCU graduate student in physics, said dynamical systems can be separated into two categories: linear systems and nonlinear systems. Hopkins said a network of nerve cells can be thought of as a nonlinear system.
Izhikevich’s lecture, titled “Simulating large-scale brain models”, showcased his research, which includes spiking neurons and using microcircuitry to represent a part of the brain.
At The Neurosciences Institute on Oct. 27, Izhikevich and other researchers became the first in the world to simulate one second of activity in their artificial, human brain-sized model.
Using their two-hemisphere model, the simulation took 50 days and 27 3Ghz computers to process more than 10,000 terabytes of data.
Izhikevich said over time and with more research, he and his colleagues can learn more about the brain and its actions. He said this research may lead to explanations of what causes epileptic seizures, and how one day they may be preventable.
Born in Russia, Izhikevich said, a childhood dream of building artificial intelligence lead him to Moscow and eventually the United States, all the while learning as much about the human brain and mathematics as possible.
Now in San Diego, Izhikevich and his colleagues work to create autonomous robots, or as one of Izhikevich’s fellow researchers refers to them, “nonbiological organisms.”
While researching at the Mayo Clinic, TCU physics professor Bruce Miller said he read one of Izhikevich’s research papers and became interested in his work.
Miller invited Izhikevich to speak as the 10th Annual Joseph Morgan lecturer.
The Joseph Morgan Lecture series allows for a guest speaker in the academic field of physics.
The lecture attracted about 30 students and faculty.
