On 12 October, HBP Scientific Director Katrin Amunts and Tommaso Calarco, chair of the Quantum Community Network of the Quantum Flagship, presented two special pieces from Forschungszentrum Jülich to the European Commission in Brussels: an enlarged image of human brain fibres and a true-to-scale replica of the quantum computer "OpenSuperQ".

The cerebral cortex organizes itself in specific neuronal assemblies when consciously perceiving sounds, generating “creative” patterns of activity.

Light-Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (LSFM) of cleared brain samples offers the unique opportunity of exploring brain complexity on large scales yet at cellular resolution. The European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) has gathered long-standing experience in the whole LSFM pipeline, comprising sample preparation (clearing and staining), the actual imaging using custom-designed optical setups, and image post-processing (volumetric stitching, compression, feature segmentation). The LENS facility hub offers access to two microscopy setups capable of high-speed and high-resolution imaging with simultaneous two-color acquisition. One system can accommodate large bulky samples such as a whole mouse brain, while the other microscope is designed for …

A study by Human Brain Project (HBP) researchers identifies a new marker for predicting the clinical outcome of patients of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) through magnetoencephalography. This marker can be measured in the brain during its resting state and highlights the importance of brain flexibility for ALS patients. The study, published in Neurology, has been led by the Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes in Marseille, in collaboration with Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Parthenope University of Naples and Institute of Diagnosis and Care Hermitage Capodimonte in Naples, and the Monash University in Melbourne.

A new field of science has been emerging at the intersection of neuroscience and high-performance computing - this is the takeaway from the 2022 BrainComp conference, which took place in Cetraro, Italy from the 19th to the 22nd of September. The meeting, which featured international experts in brain mapping, machine learning, simulation, research infrastructures, neuro-derived hardware, neuroethics and more, strengthened the current collaborations in this emerging field and forged new ones.

The ethical and social implications of using artificial intelligence in life science – or society – have become the main hurdle for implementation. The debate has intensified in recent years, bringing a long list of solutions in the form of approaches, tools and initiatives. One of the more prominent examples of this is the European Union’s Assessment list for trustworthy AI, or ALTAI, developed by the EU’s high-level expert group on artificial intelligence. How does it work? A recent paper published in AI and Ethics presents a first empirical test in a live setting: Looking at neuro-informatics in the Human …

Psychostimulants are commonly used as treatments of psychiatric disorders or to improve cognition, but the benefits of these drugs are not the same for everyone, as their effects vary greatly both across individuals and within the same patient. This large variability poses a major problem for treatment strategies in psychiatry, and the reasons behind it are still not clear. Now, scientists of the Human Brain Project (HBP) moved closer to understanding them.

As factory floors become increasingly automated, the interaction between robots and humans in the same working environment is projected to be a common occurrence. It must be safe for the humans involved to avoid injuries and life-threatening situations. The Human Brain Project now unveils a new Showcase project about Cobotics – exploring the safe collaboration between humans and robots in a shared space. Using the digital EBRAINS research infrastructure, the scientists have employed models and insights that draw inspiration from neuroscience.

The Innovation team has recently organized the third online Solution Workshop, focused on Neuropharma, with the participation of HBP researchers and European startups that are showing outstanding approaches in the drug discovery and development area.

The HBP Innovation and Technology Transfer Node is glad to announce the release of the EBRAINS Multilevel Human Brain Atlas market analysis.