From 13 to 15 June 2022, the EBRAINS Workshop: Brain Activity across Scales and Species: Analysis of Experiments and Simulations (BASSES) took place in Rome, Italy and online.

Researchers across Europe are invited to comment on a recently published position paper on the vision for the coming decade of digital brain research.

Brain simulation methods can be used to improve the classification of dementia and could in the future constitute a new diagnostic tool to help direct patients towards the right treatment. These are the conclusions suggested by a new paper by HBP researchers, published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (TRCI) journal. The findings provide a proof of concept for the use of the Virtual Brain simulation platform as a personalisation tool not only for treatment, but also for early stages of diagnosis.

Right at the beginning of summer, CNR and the HBP welcomed students from all over Europe and the world to join them in-person for the second edition of the EBRAINS Brain Simulation School in Palermo, Italy.

New brain maps show that cells, receptors and gene activity change along the same boundaries. The study, which was conducted by researchers of the Human Brain Project, elucidates principles of human brain organisation for areas of the visual, auditory, somatosensory and motor systems.

Read our interview with Roshan Cools.

Every moment of our waking lives, images fall onto our eyes and go through a series of processing steps in the brain to inform us about what is going on in the world. A team of researchers led by HBP partner University of Amsterdam, finds that the time the brain needs to make a visual decision depends on auditory and tactile inputs, not only on the visual properties of the stimuli.

Is it possible to differentiate biological sex from other factors that can influence the brain, like culture or life experiences? Is sex a simple binary variable or a complex interplay of several factors? To which extent are brain functions affected by sex hormones? Can it be ethically justified to only study homogenous groups when diagnosing and treating diseases, if that means neglecting human diversity? Which intersections of sex with further diversity traits should be considered, especially for neurodegenerative diseases?

Human Brain Project researchers collaborate with Intel to bring AI closer to the energy efficiency of the brain.

World Schizophrenia Day is observed on May 24 every year to spread awareness about the mental disorder that affects about 24 million people across the world, according to the World Health Organization. Schizophrenia involves impairments in the way reality is perceived and behaviour changes, causing symptoms like delusions, hallucinations and disorganised thinking. The Human Brain Project (HBP) supports research that contributes to a better understanding of schizophrenia. In a recent study, scientists analysed a mechanism that may be behind one of the characteristic symptoms of the disorder.