A Synopsis

on

Blue Brain Project

Computer Science & Engineering

Galgotias College of Engineering & Technology

Greater Noida 201306
Uttar Pradesh, INDIA
Affiliated to

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University

Lucknow

Submitted To: Submitted By

Ms. Tanu Shree Abhishek Kumar
(1409710902)
 CONTENTS

Abstract
Introduction
How it is possible?
How the natural brain works?
Hardware and software requirement
Uploading human brain
Advantages and disadvantages
Current research work
Conclusion
References
 ABSTRACT

With the advancement in technology, human, the ultimate

source of information and discovery should also be preserved. In
other words, human is does not live for thousands of years but the
information in his mind could be saved and used for several
thousands of years. The technology helpful in this activity is Blue
Brain. Today scientists are in research to create an artificial brain
that can think, response, take decision, and keep anything in
memory. The main aim is to upload human brain into machine. So
that man can think, take decision without any effort. After the
death of the body, the virtual brain will act as the man .So, even
after the death of a person we will not lose the knowledge,
intelligence, personalities, feelings and memories of that man that
can be used for the development of the human society. This
journal paper consists of the information on Blue Brain project,
concepts of Blue Brain, its requirements, strategies undertaken to
build a Blue Brain, advantages and disadvantages and many more.

Keywords: Blue brain, virtual mind, BBP, Blue Gene, brain in

super computer.
 INTRODUCTION
Blue Brain Blue brain is a concept which allows to copy or to
transfer all the contents of a human brain into a virtual brain that
resides inside a Super computer. The Super computer used in this
is Blue Gene as of the current information revealed. It is like
uploading a mind in a computer.
Blue Brain means a machine that can function as human brain.
Today scientists are in research to create an artificial brain that can
think, response, take decision, and keep anything in memory. The
main aim is to upload human brain into machine. So that man can
think, take decision without any effort.
After the death of the body, the virtual brain will act as the man
.So, even after the death of a person we will not lose the
knowledge, intelligence, personalities, feelings and memories of
that man that can be used for the development of the human
society. No one has ever understood the complexity of human
brain.
It is complex than any circuitry in the world. So, question may
arise Is it really possible to create a human brain? The answer is
Yes. Because what ever man has created today always he has
followed the nature. When man does not have a device called
computer, it was a big question for all .But today it is possible due
to the technology. Technology is growing faster than everything.
IBM is now in research to create a virtual brain. It is called Blue
brain. If possible, this would be the first virtual brain of the world.
 HOW IT IS POSSIBLE?

First, it is helpful to describe the basic manners in which a

person may be uploaded into a computer. Raymond Kurzweil
recently provided an interesting paper on this topic. In it, he
describes both invasive and noninvasive techniques. The most
promising is the use of very small robots, or nanobots. These
robots will be small enough to travel throughout our circulatory
systems. Traveling into the spine and brain, they will be able to
monitor the activity and structure of our central nervous system.
They will be able to provide an interface with computers that is as
close as our mind can be while we still reside in our biological
form. Nanobots could also carefully scan the structure of our brain,
providing a complete readout of the connections between each
neuron. They would also record the current state of the brain. This
information, when entered into a computer, could then continue to
function as us.
All that is required is a computer with large enough storage
space and processing power. Is the pattern and state of neuron
connections in our brain truly all that makes up our conscious
selves? Many people believe firmly those we posses a soul, while
some very technical people believe that quantum forces contribute
to our awareness. But we have to now think technically. Note,
however, that we need not know how the brain actually functions,
to transfer it to a computer. We need only know the media and
contents. The actual mystery of how we achieved consciousness in
the first place, or how we maintain it, is a separate discussion.
 HOW THE NATURAL BRAIN WORKS?

The human ability to feel, interpret and even see is

controlled, in computer like calculations, by the magical nervous
system. Yes, the nervous system is quite like magic because we
can't see it, but its working through electric impulses through your
body.

One of the worlds most "intricately organized" electron

mechanisms is the nervous system. Not even engineers have come
close to making circuit boards and computers as delicate and
precise as the nervous system. To understand this system, one has
to know the three simple functions that it puts into action: sensory
input, integration, motor output.

Sensory input:

When our eyes see something or our hands touch a warm surface,
the sensory cells, also known as Neurons, send a message straight
to your brain. This action of getting information from your
surrounding environment is called sensory input because we are
putting things in your brain by way of your senses.

Integration:
Integration is best known as the interpretation of things we have
felt, tasted, and touched with our sensory cells, also known as
neurons, into responses that the body recognizes. This process is
all accomplished in the brain where many, many neurons work
together to understand the environment.

Motor Output:
Once our brain has interpreted all that we have learned, either by
touching, tasting, or using any other sense, then our brain sends a
message through neurons to effecter cells, muscle or gland cells,
which actually work to perform our requests and act upon our
environment. The word motor output is easily remembered if one
should think that our putting something out into the environment
through the use of a motor, like a muscle which does the work for
our body.
HARDWARE & SOFTWARE REQUIRMENT

1. A super computer.
2. Memory with a very large storing capacity.
3. Processor with a very high processing power.
4. A very wide network.
5. A program to convert the electric impulses from the brain to
input signal, which is to be received by the computer, and
vice versa.
6. Very powerful Nanobots to act as the interface between the
natural brain and the computer
 UPLOADING HUMAN BRAIN

The uploading is possible by the use of small robots known

as the Nanobots .These robots are small enough to travel through
out our circulatory system. Traveling into the spine and brain, they
will be able to monitor the activity and structure of our central
nervous system.

They will be able to provide an interface with computers that is

as close as our mind can be while we still reside in our biological
form. Nanobots could also carefully scan the structure of our brain,
providing a complete readout of the connections. This information,
when entered into a computer, could then continue to function as
us. Thus the data stored in the entire brain will be uploaded into the
computer
 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVENTAGES

Advantages:
We can remember things without any effort.
Decision can be made without the presence of a person.
Even after the death of a man his intelligence can be used.
The activity of different animals can be understood. That
means by interpretation of the electric impulses from the
brain of the animals, their thinking can be understood easily.
It would allow the deaf to hear via direct nerve stimulation,
and also be helpful for many psychological diseases. By
down loading the contents of the brain that was uploaded
into the computer, the man can get rid from the madness.

Disadvantages:
We become dependent upon the computer systems.
Others may use technical knowledge against us.
Computer viruses will pose an increasingly critical threat.
The real threat, however, is the fear that people will have of
new technologies. That fear may culminate in a large
resistance. Clear evidence of this type of fear is found today
with respect to human cloning.
 CURRENT RESEARCH WORK
IBM, in partnership with scientists at Switzerland's Ecole
Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne's (EPFL) Brain and
Mind Institute will begin simulating the brain's biological
systems and output the data as a working 3-dimensional
model that will recreate the high-speed electro-chemical
interactions that take place within the brain's interior. These
include cognitive functions such as language, learning,
perception and memory in addition to brain malfunction
such as psychiatric disorders like depression and autism.
From there, the modeling will expand to other regions of the
brain and, if successful, shed light on the relationships
between genetic, molecular and cognitive functions of the
brain.
Researchers at Microsoft's Media Presence Lab are
developing a "virtual brain," a PC-based database that holds
a record of an individual's complete life experience. Called
MyLifeBits, the project aims to make this database of
human memories searchable in the manner of a conventional
search engine. "By 2047, almost all information will be in
cyberspace including all knowledge and creative works, said
one of the project's leaders, Gordon Bell.
According to the new scientist Magazine report Rodrigo
Laje and Gabriel Mindlin of the University of Buenos Aires
in Argentina have devised a computer model of a region of
the brain called the RA nucleus which controls muscles in
the lungs and vocal folds.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we will be able to transfer ourselves into

computers at some point. Most arguments against this outcome are
seemingly easy to circumvent. They are either simple minded, or
simply require further time for technology to increase. The only
serious threats raised are also overcome as we note the
combination of biological and digital technologies. While the road
ahead is long, already researches have been gaining great insights
from their model. Using the Blue Gene supercomputers, up to 100
cortical columns, 1 million neurons, and 1 billion synapses can be
simulated at once. This is roughly equivalent to the brain power of
a honey bee. Humans, by contrast, have about 2 million columns in
their cortices. Despite the sheer complexity of such an endeavor, it
is predicted that the project will be capable of this by the year
2023.
 REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_upload
http://bluebrainproject.epfl.ch
http://research.ibm.com/bluebrain
http://www.artificialbrains.com/blue-brain-project

 SEMINAR
ON
BLUE BRAIN

Submitted To Submitted By
Ms. Tanu Shree Abhishek Kumar
1409710902
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS BLUE BRAIN
WHAT IS VIRTUAL BRAIN
WHY WE NEED VIRTUAL BRAIN
BRAIN SIMULATION
UPLOADING HUMAN BRAIN
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT
BLUE BRAIN OBJECTIVES
BENEFITS OF BLUE BRAIN
ADVENTAGES AND DISADVENTAGES
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
BLUE BRAIN- The name of the worlds first virtual
brain. That means a machine that can function as human
brain.

Human brain, the most valuable creation of God.The

man is called intelligent because of the Brain.But we loss
the knowledge of a brain when the body is destroyed
after the death .

Is it really possible to create a human brain?

WHAT IS BLUE BRAIN?
The IBM is now developing a virtual brain known as the
BLUE BRAIN. Blue Brain means a machine that can
function as human brain.

It would be the worlds first virtual brain. Within 30

years, we will be able to scan ourselves into the
computers.
WHAT IS VIRTUAL BRAIN?
A machine that can function as brain.
It can take decision.
It can think.
It can respond.
It can keep things in memory.
WHY WE NEED VIRTUAL BRAIN?
To upload contents of the natural brain into it.
To keep the intelligence , knowledge and skill of any
person for ever .
To remember things without any effort .
BRAIN SIMULATION
NATURAL BRAIN VS SIMULATED BRAIN

INPUT INPUT
Through the natural Through the silicon chip
neurons. or artificial neurons.
INTERPRETATION INTERPRETATION
By a set of bits in the set By different states of
of register . the neurons in the brain.
OUTPUT OUTPUT
Through the natural Through the silicon chip
neurons. .
BRAIN SIMULATION
NATURAL BRAIN VS SIMULATED BRAIN

PROCESSING PROCESSING
Through arithmetic and Through arithmetic and
logical calculations. logical calculation and
artificial intelligence .

MEMORY MEMORY
Through permanent Through Secondary
states of neurons . memory
UPLOADING HUMAN BRAIN
The uploading is possible by the use of small robots
known as the nanobots.

These robots are small enough to travel through out our

circulatory system.

Traveling into the spine and brain, they will be able to

monitor the activity and structure of our central nervous
system.

They will be able to provide an interface with computer

that is as close as our mind can be while we still reside in
our biological form .
UPLOADING HUMAN BRAIN(CONT.)
Nanobots could also carefully scan the structure of our
brain, providing a complete readout of the connection.

This information, when entered into a computer, could

then continue to function as us.

Thus the data stored in the entire brain will be uploaded

into the computer.
EXAMPLE OF BLUE BRAIN
A very good example of utilization of blue brain is the
case "short term memory".
In some movies we might have noticed that a person
might be having short term memories.
A another situation is that when a person gets older, then
he starts forgetting or takes a bit more time to recognize
to a person.
For the above reason we need a blue brain. It is simple
chip that can be installed into the human brain for which
the short term memory and volatile memory at the old
age can be avoided.
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIRMENT
A Super computer.
Memory with a very large storing capacity.

Processor with a very high processing power.

A very wide network.

A program to convert the electric impulses from the brain

to input signal, which is to be received by the computer
and vice versa.
Very powerful Nanobots to act as the interface between
the natural brain and the computer.
The Blue Brain has some 8,000 processors which map
one or two simulated brain neurons to each processor,
making the computer a replica of 10,000 neurons.
BLUE BRAIN PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project will search for insights into how human
beings think and remember.

Scientists think that blue brain could also help to cure the
Parkinson's disease.

The brain circuitry is in a complex state of flux, the brain

rewiring itself every moment of its existence. If the
scientists can crack open the secret of how and why the
brain does it, the knowledge could lead to new breed of
supercomputers.
AN ARTIFICIAL BRAIN COMES TO LIFE IN
SWITZERLAND
The machine is beautiful as it wakes up it means it works
in a fine way when started. Nerve cells flicker on the
screen , along with that electrical charges are produced.
This piece of hardware consists of about 10,000 computer
chips that act like real nerve cells.
It runs on one of the world's most powerful
supercomputers.

The goal is to build a much bigger electronic thinking

machine -- one that would ultimately replicate the human
brain .
BLUE BRAIN IN LAUSANNA,SWITZERLAND

The "Blue Brain" supercomputer in

Lausanne, Switzerland.
BENEFITS OF BLUE BRAIN
It acts as a supercomputer.
Improvements in processing speed and memory could
make entire human brain simulated.
Things could be remembered without any effort.
Use the intelligence of the person after death.
It can make decisions entirely of its own.
Allowing the deaf to hear via direct nerve simulation.
ADVENTAGES OF BLUE BRAIN
Blue brain is an approach to store and utilize human
intelligence and information present in the mind even
after human demise.
It is an important move towards self -decision making by
the computer or machine that holds a Blue brain.
It can be used as an interface between human and animal
minds. The BBP has become successful in rat and some
other animals which is a sign of success.
It a good remedy towards human disability like a deaf
can get the information via direct nerve stimulation.
DISADVANTAGES OF BLUE BRAIN
We become dependent upon the computers.
Another fear is found with respect to human cloning.
A very costly procedure of regaining the memory back.
CONCLUSION
Will be able to transfer ourselves into the computer at
some point.

Eventually aim of applying terrific computer power to

the simulation of an entire brain.

Very soon this technology will be highly accepted whole

over the world.
REFERENCE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_upload
http://bluebrainproject.epfl.ch

http://research.ibm.com/bluebrain

http://www.artificialbrains.com/blue-brain-project
THANK YOU
International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Blue Brain - The Future Generation

Siva Kumar Avula1, Vedrucha S Pakale2 and Sheetal V Kashid3
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Ashokrao Mane Group of Institutions - Vathar
2,3
BE CSE Student, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Ashokrao Mane Group of Institutions - Vathar

ABSTRACT
Human brain is the most valuable creation of God. The man is intelligent because of the brain. Blue brain is the name of the
worlds first virtual brain. That means a machine can function as human brain. Today scientists are in research to create an
artificial brain that can think, response, take decision, and keep anything in memory. The main aim is to upload human brain
into machine. So that man can think, take decision without any effort. After the death of the body, the virtual brain will act as
the man .So, even after the death of a person we will not lose the knowledge, intelligence, personalities, feelings and memories
of that man that can be used for the development of the human society.
Keywords: Nanobotes, Neurons, Sensory System

1. INTRODUCTION
The Blue Brain System is an attempt to reverse engineer the human brain and recreate it at the cellular level inside a
computer simulation. The project was founded in May 2005 by Henry Markram at the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Goals of the project are to gain a complete understanding of the brain and to enable better and faster development of
brain disease treatments. The research involves studying slices of living brain tissue using microscopes and patch
clamp electrodes. Data is collected about all the many different neuron types. This data is used to build biologically
realistic models of neurons and networks of neurons in the cerebral cortex. The simulations are carried out on a Blue
Gene supercomputer built by IBM, hence the name "Blue Brain". The simulation software is based on Michael
Hines's NEURON, together with other custom-built components.
As of August 2012 the largest simulations are of micro circuits containing around 100 cortical columns such
simulations involve approximately 1 million neurons and 1 billion synapses. This is about the same scale as that of
a honey bee brain. It is hoped that a rat brain neocortical simulation (~21 million neurons) will be achieved by the end
of 2014. A full human brain simulation (86 billion neurons) should be possible by 2023 provided sufficient funding is
received.

2. WHAT IS BLUE BRAIN?

The IBM is now developing a virtual brain known as the Blue brain. It would be the worlds first virtual brain. Within
30 years, we will be able to scan ourselves into the computers. We can say it as Virtual Brain i.e. an artificial brain,
which is not actually a natural brain, but can act as a brain. It can think like brain, take decisions based on the past
experience, and respond as a natural brain. It is possible by using a super computer, with a huge amount of storage
capacity, processing power and an interface between the human brain and artificial one. Through this interface the data
stored in the natural brain can be up loaded into the computer. So the brain and the knowledge, intelligence of anyone
can be kept and used for ever, even after the death of the person.

3. NEED OF VIRTUAL BRAIN

Today we are developed because of our intelligence. Intelligence is the inborn quality that cannot be created .Some
people have this quality, so that they can think up to such an extent where other cannot reach. Human society is always
in need of such intelligence and such an intelligent brain to have with. But the intelligence is lost along with the body
after the death. The virtual brain is a solution to it. The brain and intelligence will be alive even after the death. We
often face difficulties in remembering things such as people names, their birthdays, and the spellings of words, proper
grammar, important dates, history facts, and etcetera. In the busy life everyone wants to be relaxed.
Cant we use any machine to assist for all these? Virtual brain may be a better solution for it. What will happen if we
upload ourselves into computer, we were simply aware of a computer, or maybe, what will happen if we lived in a
computer as a program?

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 306

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

4. HOW IT IS POSSIBLE?
First, it is helpful to describe the basic manners in which a person may be uploaded into a computer. Raymond
Kurzweil recently provided an interesting paper on this topic. In it, he describes both invasive and noninvasive
techniques. The most promising is the use of very small robots, or nanobots. These robots will be small enough to travel
throughout our circulatory systems. Traveling into the spine and brain, they will be able to monitor the activity and
structure of our central nervous system. They will be able to provide an interface with computers that is as close as our
mind can be while we still reside in our biological form. Nanobots could also carefully scan the structure of our brain,
providing a complete readout of the connections between each neuron. They would also record the current state of the
brain. This information, when entered into a computer, could then continue to function like us. All that is required is a
computer with large enough storage space and processing power.

5. FUNCTIONING OF HUMAN BRAIN

The human ability to feel, interpret and even see is controlled, in computer like calculations, by the magical nervous
system. Yes, the nervous system is quite like magic because we cant see it, but its working through electric impulses
through your body. One of the worlds most "intricately organized" electron mechanisms is the nervous system. Not
even engineers have come close for making circuit boards and computers as delicate and precise as the nervous system.
To understand this system, one has to know the three simple functions that it puts into action: sensory input,
integration, motor output.
1. Sensory input:
When our eyes see something or our hands touch a warm surface, the sensory cells, also known as Neurons, send a
message straight to your brain. This action of getting information from your surrounding environment is called sensory
input because we are putting things in your brain by way of your senses.
2. Integration:
Integration is best known as the interpretation of things we have felt, tasted, and touched with our sensory cells, also
known as neurons, into responses that the body recognizes. This process is all accomplished in the brain where many
neurons work together to understand the environment.
3. Motor Output:
Once our brain has interpreted all that we have learned, either by touching, tasting, or using any other sense, then our
brain sends a message through neurons to effecter cells, muscle or gland cells, which actually work to perform our
requests and act upon the environment. How we see, hear, feel, smell, and take decision.

6. BRAIN SIMULATION
Table 1: Comparison between Natural and Simulated Brain
Natural Brain
INPUT
In the nervous system in our body the neurons are
responsible for the message passing. The body receives
the input by sensory cells. This sensory cell produces
electric impulses which are received by neurons. The
neurons transfer these electric impulses to the brain.
INTERPRETATION
The electric impulses received by the brain from
neurons are interpreted in the brain. The interpretation
in the brain is accomplished by means of certain states
of many neurons.
OUTPUT
Based on the states of the neurons the brain sends the
electric impulses representing the responses which are
further received by sensory cell of our body to respond
neurons in the brain at that time.
MEMORY
There are certain neurons in our brain which represent
certain states permanently. When required, this state is
represented by our brain and we can remember the past
things. To remember things we force the neurons to
Simulated Brain
INPUT
In a similar way the artificial nervous system can be
created. The scientist has created artificial neurons by
replacing them with the silicon chip. It has also been
tested that these neurons can receive the input from the
sensory cells. So, the electric impulses from the sensory
cells can be received through these artificial neurons.
INTERPRETATION
The interpretation of the electric impulses received by
the artificial neuron can be done by means of registers.
The different values in these register will represent
different states of brain.
OUTPUT
Similarly based on the states of the register the output
signal can be given to the artificial neurons in the body
which will be received by the sensory cell.
MEMORY
It is not impossible to store the data permanently by
using the secondary memory. In the similar way the
required states of the registers can be stored
permanently and when required these information can

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 307

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

represent certain states of the brain permanently or for
any interesting or serious matter this is happened
implicitly.
PROCESSING
When we take decision, think about something, or make
any computation, logical and arithmetic computations
are done in our neural circuitry. The past experience
stored and the current inputs received are used and the
states of certain neurons are changed to give the output.
Neuron
be received and used.
PROCESSING
In the similar way the decision making can be done by
the computer by using some stored states and the
received input and the performing some arithmetic and
logical calculations.

Figure 1 NEURON cell builder window

The primary software used by the BBP for neural simulations is a package called NEURON. This was developed
starting in the 1990s by Michael Hines at Yale University and John Moore at Duke University. It is written in C, C++,
and FORTRAN. The software continues to be under active development and, as of July 2012, is currently at version
7.2. It is free and open source software, both the code and the binaries are freely available on the website. Michael
Hines and the BBP team collaborated in 2005 to port the package to the massively parallel Blue Gene supercomputer.
Workflow of Neuron
The simulation step involves synthesizing virtual cells using the algorithms that were found to describe real neurons.
The algorithms and parameters are adjusted for the age, species, and disease stage of the animal being simulated. Every
single protein is simulated, and there are about a billion of these in one cell. First a network skeleton is built from all
the different kinds of synthesized neurons. Then the cells are connected together according to the rules that have been
found experimentally. Finally the neurons are functionalized and the simulation brought to life. The patterns of
emergent behavior are viewed with visualization software.
A basic unit of the cerebral cortex is the cortical column. Each column can be mapped to one function, e.g. in rats one
column is devoted to each whisker. A rat cortical column has about 10,000 neurons and is about the size of a pinhead.
The latest simulations, as of November 2011, contain about 100 columns, 1 million neurons, and 1 billion synapses. A
real life rat has about 100,000 columns in total, and humans have around 2 million. Techniques are being developed for
multiscale simulation whereby active parts of the brain are simulated in great detail while quiescent parts are not so
detailed.
Every two weeks a column model is run. The simulations reproduce observations that are seen in living neurons.
Emergent properties are seen that they require larger and larger networks. The plan is to build a generalized simulation
tool, one that makes it easy to build circuits. There are also plans to couple the brain simulations to avatars living in a
virtual environment, and eventually also to robots interacting with the real world. The ultimate aim is to be able to
understand and reproduce human consciousness.
BBP-SDK
The BBP-SDK (Blue Brain Project - Software Development Kit) is a set of software classes (APIs) that allows
researchers to utilize and inspect models and simulations. The SDK is a C++ library wrapped in Java and Python.
Visualizations of results

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 308

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Figure 2 RTNeuron visualization of a neuron

RTNeuron
RTNeuron is the primary application used by the BBP for visualization of neural simulations. The software was
developed internally by the BBP team. It is written in C++ and OpenGL. RTNeuron is ad-hoc software written
specifically for neural simulations, i.e. it is not generalisable to other types of simulation. RTNeuron takes the output
from Hodgkin-Huxley simulations in NEURON and render them in 3D. This allows researchers to watch as activation
potentials propagate through a neuron and between neurons. The animations can be stopped, started and zoomed, thus
letting researchers interact with the model. The visualizations are multi-scale that is they can render individual neurons
or a whole cortical column. The image right was rendered in RTNeuron.

7. COMPUTER HARDWARE/ SUPERCOMPUTERS

Blue Gene/P
The primary machine used by the Blue Brain Project is a Blue Gene supercomputer built by IBM. This is where the
name "Blue Brain" originates from. IBM agreed in June 2005 to supply EPFL with a Blue Gene/L as a "technology
demonstrator". The IBM press release did not disclose the terms of the deal. In June 2010 this machine was upgraded
to a Blue Gene/P. The machine is installed on the EPFL campus in Lausanne (Google map) and is managed
by CADMOS (Center for Advanced Modeling Science).
The computer is used by a number of different research groups, not exclusively by the Blue Brain Project. In mid-2012
the BBP was consuming about 20% of the compute time. The brain simulations generally run all day, and one day per
week (usually Thursdays). The rest of the week is used to prepare simulations and to analyze the resulting data. The
supercomputer usage statistics and job history are publicly available online - look for the jobs labeled as "C-BPP".
Blue Gene/P technical specifications
4,096 quad-core nodes
Each core is a PowerPC 450, 850 MHz
Total: 56 teraflops, 16 terabytes of memory
4 racks, one row, wired as a 16x16x16 3D torus
1 PB of disk space, GPFS parallel file system
Operating system: Linux SuSE SLES 10
This machine peaked at 99th fastest supercomputer in the world in November 2009.

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 309

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Figure 3 Blue brain Storage rack Figure 4 Blue brain Storage hierarchy

Silicon Graphics: A 32-processor Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) system with 300 Gb of shared memory is used for
visualization of results.
Commodity PC clusters: Clusters of commodity PCs have been used for visualization tasks with the RTNeuron
software.
JuQUEEN

Figure 5 JuQUEEN supercomputer in Germany

JuQUEEN is an IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer that was installed at the Jlich Research Center in Germany in May
2012. It currently performs at 1.6 peta flops and was ranked the world's 8th fastest supercomputer in June 2012. It's
likely that this machine will be used for BBP simulations starting in 2013, provided funding is granted via the Human
Brain Project. In October 2012 the supercomputer is due to be expanded with additional racks. It is not known exactly
how many racks or what the final processing speed will be. The JuQUEEN machine is also to be used by the research
initiative. This aims to develop a three-dimensional, realistic model of the human brain.

8. DEEP - DYNAMICAL EXASCALE ENTRY PLATFORM

DEEP (deep-project.eu) is an exascale supercomputer to be built at the Jlich Research Center in Germany. The project
started in December 2011 and is funded by the European Union's 7th framework program. The three-year prototype
phase of the project has received 8.5 million. A prototype supercomputer that will perform at 100 petaflops is hoped to
be built by the end of 2014. The Blue Brain Project simulations will be ported to the DEEP prototype to help test the
system's performance. If successful, a future exascale version of this machine could provide the 1 exaflops of
performance required for a complete human brain simulation by the 2020s.The DEEP prototype will be built using Intel
MIC (Many Integrated Cores) processors, each of which contains over 50 cores fabricated with a 22 nm process. These
processors were codenamed Knights Corner during development and subsequently rebranded as Xeon Phi in June 2012.
The processors will be publicly available in late 2012 or early 2013 and will offer just over 1 teraflop of performance
each.

Figure 6 DEEP cluster-booster architecture

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 310

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847

9. UPLOADING HUMAN BRAIN

The uploading is possible by the use of small robots known as the Nanobots .These robots are small enough to travel
throughout our circulatory system. Traveling into the spine and brain, they will be able to monitor the activity and
structure of our central nervous system. They will be able to provide an interface with computers that is as close as our
mind can be while we still reside in our biological form. Nanobots could also carefully scan the structure of our brain,
providing a complete readout of the connections. This information, when entered into a computer, could then continue
to function as us. Thus the data stored in the entire brain will be uploaded into the computer.
Merits and demerits
With the blue brain project the things can be remembered without any effort, decisions can be made without the
presence of a person. Even after the death of a man his intelligence can be used. The activity of different animals can be
understood. That means by interpretation of the electric impulses from the brain of the animals, their thinking can be
understood easily. It would allow the deaf to hear via direct nerve stimulation, and also be helpful for many
psychological diseases.
Due to blue brain system human beings will become dependent on the computer systems. Technical knowledge may be
misused by hackers; Computer viruses will pose an increasingly critical threat. The real threat, however, is the fear that
people will have of new technologies. That fear may culminate in a large resistance. Clear evidence of this type of fear
is found today with respect to human cloning.
What can we learn from Blue Brain?
Detailed, biologically accurate brain simulations offer the opportunity to answer some fundamental questions about the
brain that cannot be addressed with any current experimental or theoretical approaches. Understanding complexity At
present, detailed, accurate brain simulations are the only approach that could allow us to explain why the brain needs to
use many different ion channels, neurons and synapses, a spectrum of receptors, and complex dendritic and axonal
arborizations.
Applications:
1. Gathering and Testing 100 Years of Data.
2. Cracking the Neural Code
3. Understanding Neocortical Information Processing
4. A Novel Tool for Drug Discovery for Brain Disorders
5. A Global Facility
6. A Foundation for Whole Brain Simulations
7. A Foundation for Molecular Modeling of Brain Function

10. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we will be able to transfer ourselves into computers at some point. Most arguments against this outcome
are seemingly easy to circumvent. They are either simple minded, or simply require further time for technology to
increase. The only serious threats raised are also overcome as we note the combination of biological and digital
technologies. While the road ahead is long, already researches have been gaining great insights from their model.
Using the Blue Gene supercomputers, up to 100 cortical columns, 1 million neurons, and 1 billion synapses can be
simulated at once. This is roughly equivalent to the brain power of a honey bee. Humans, by contrast, have about 2
million columns in their cortices. Despite the sheer complexity of such an endeavor, it is predicted that the project will
be capable of this by the year 2023.

REFERENCES
[1] The Blue brain project, Hil, sean: Markram Henry, International conference of IEEE 2008.
[2] Henry Markram, "The Blue Brain Project", Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7:153-160, 2006 February. PMID
16429124.
[3] http://bluebrainproject.epfl.ch.
[4] http://research.ibm.com/bluebrain.
[5] Reconstructing the Heart of Mammalian Intelligence, Henry Markrams lecture, March 4 2008.
[6] Henry Markram builds a brain in supercomputer, TED conference July 2009
[7] Indian startup to help copy your brain in computers, Silicon India 2009
[8] http://thebeutifulbrain.com/2010/02/bluebrain-film-preview/

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Vol. 2, Issue 2, pp: (202-207), Month: April-June 2014, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

Blue Brain
Nakul Ghimire1, Mr. Fahad Iqbal2
1
Student, 2Asst. Professor, Saveetha School of Engineering
Saveetha University, Chennai

Abstract: With the advancement in technology, human, the ultimate source of information and discovery should
also be preserved. In other words, human is does not live for thousands of years but the information in his mind
could be saved and used for several thousands of years. The technology helpful in this activity is Blue Brain. This
journal paper consists of the information on Blue Brain project, concepts of Blue Brain, its requirements,
strategies undertaken to build a Blue Brain, advantages and disadvantages and many more.

Keywords: Blue brain, virtual mind, BBP, Blue Gene, brain in super computer.

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW

Based on: Blue Brain Project

Project aim: to study the brain's architectural and functional principles and construction of synthetic brain in a super
computer
Project started on: May, 2005
Project undertaken by: Brain and Mind Institute of the colePolytechniqueFdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) in
Switzerland
Project personnel: Henry Markram (Founding Director), Felix Schrmann (Co-Director), Sean Hill (Co-Director)
Construction methodology: reverse-engineering of mammal brain to the molecular level.

II. WHAT IS BLUE BRAIN?

Its very clear by reading the general overview of what Blue brain is. Blue brain is a concept which allows to copy or to
transfer all the contents of a human brain into a virtual brain that resides inside a Super computer. The Super computer
used in this is Blue Gene as of the current information revealed. It is like uploading a mind in a computer.
Mind uploading can probably be achieved by either of two methods: 1.Copy and Transfer or 2.Slow and steady
replacement of neurons. In the previous method, mind uploading would be achieved by scanning, comparing and
contrasting the salient features of a normal biological brain, and then by copying, moving, and saving that information
into a computer system or other computing machine. The stimulated mind then can reside into a computer that is inside a
humanoid robot or a biological body.

Achievements made in the technology:

Typical scientists, impending research funders and scientific journalists are still doubtful on success of mind uploading.
Significant mainstream research in related areas is being conducted in animal brains, comparing, contrasting and
simulation, developing of faster super computers, virtual reality, brain-computer interfaces, connectors and information
extraction from dynamically working brains.
Brain simulation is unbelievably inter-disciplinary research. It involves the domains like brain imaging, neuroscience,
computer science, nanotechnology, AI, biotechnology, psychology, philosophy, and many more.

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A progressively vast community of thoughtful researchers has arisen, taking this seemingly science-fictional knowledge
seriously and running to it through experimental and theoretical research programs. These supporters mention many of the
tools and ideas needed to achieve mind uploading activity; however, they also admit that it is very hypothetical, but still in
the dominion of engineering potential.

Fig. Neuron anatomical model Fig. simple artificial neural network

A typical human brain consists of approximately 85.5 billion of nerve cells called the neurons. Each neuron is
individually linked to other neurons by axons and dendrites. Signals at the biological level of these connections are
transmitted by releasing and detecting chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Neuroscientists have stated that important
functions that a mind performs such as learning, memory, and consciousness, have been possible due to completely
physical and electrochemical processes in the brain.
Consciousness is a part of natural world. We believe that consciousness depends on mathematics and logic, laws of
physics and chemistry and biology; its not magical. The concept of mind uploading is based on this mechanical view of
the mind. It denies the ritualistic view of human life and consciousness. Eminent computer geniuses and neuroscientists
have foretold that specially programmed machines will be capable of thought and even reach some level of
consciousness. Such machine intelligence ability might offer a computational substrate necessary for uploading.

III. STEPS TO BUILDING A BLUE BRAIN

1. Data collection
2. Data simulation
3. Visualization

1. Data collection:
It involves collecting brain portions, taking them under a microscope, and gauging the shape and electrical behavior of
neurons individually. This method of studying and cataloguing neurons is very familiar and worldwide.

Fig. The 12 patch clamp, close view Fig. 3D neuron morphology reconstruction

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The neurons are captured by their shape, electrical and physiological activity, site within the cerebral cortex, and their
population density. These observations are translated into precise algorithms which describe the process, function, and
positioning methods of neurons.
Then, the algorithms are used to generate biologically-real looking virtual neurons ready for simulation.

2. Data simulation:
It concerns with two major aspects:
a. Simulation speed
b. Simulation workflow

Simulation speed
Simulations of one cortical column (more than 10,100 neurons) run about two hundred times slower than real time. It
takes about five minutes to complete one second of stimulated time. The simulations display unevenly line scaling.
Presently the major seek is biological soundness rather than presentation. After understanding biologically significant
factors for a given effect it might be feasible to crop constituents that don't subsidize in order to advance performance.

Simulation overflow
Making virtual cells using the algorithms, written to define and describe real neurons, is the major seek of this step.
Algorithms and constraints are adapted according to the age, species, and disease stage of the animal being simulated.
Each one of the protein is simulated.
Note: there are hundreds of millions of proteins in one cell.

a. First a network skeleton is built from all the different kinds of synthesized neurons.
b. After this, the cells are joined according to the experimentally found rules.
c. Finally the neurons are functionalized and the simulation brought to life.
The blueprints of emerging behavior are watched with visualization software.

BBP-SDK
The Blue Brain Project - Software Development Kit, a set of Application Programming Interfaces allows the researchers
to use and audit prototypes and simulations. The Blue Brain Project-SDK is a C++ library wrapped in Java and Python.
The primary software used by this for neural simulations is NEURON. Michael Hines of Yale University and John Moore
at Duke University developed this in the starting of the 1990s. It uses C, C++, and FORTRAN. It is freely available open
source software. The website makes everything available including the code and the binary data freely. Michael Hines in
cooperation with BBP team in 2005 ported the package into the massive and parallel Blue Gene.

Fig. NEURON cell binder window

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3. Visualization of results
RT Neuron
RT Neuron is the main application that Blue Brain Project uses for visualization of neural simulations. The BBP team
developed this software internally. It is coded using C++ and OpenGL. RT Neuron is an ad-hoc software written
specifically for neural simulations, i.e. it cant generalized to other kinds of simulation. RT Neuron takes the output from
Hodgkin-Huxley simulations as input in NEURON and delivers them in 3D. This allows the programmers and researchers
to view as activation potentials propagate through or between neurons. The animations can be paused, stopped, started
and zoomed, hence allowing the researchers to interact with the model. The visualizations are multi-scale (they can render
individual neurons or a whole cortical column).

Fig. Visualization of neuron

IV. HARDWARE/ COMPUTER USED

1. Blue Gene/L Super computer (initially till 2009)

2. Blue Gene/P Super computer (till 2011)

Blue Gene/P specifications:

More than 4,000 quad-core nodes

Each core is a PowerPC of 4.5, 8.5 GHz
It consists of more than 6*1013flops, more than 15 terabytes memory
1 PetaByte of disk space and parallel file system
Operating system: Linux SuSE SLES 10

Fig. Blue Gene/Ps processing system outer view

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3. JuQUEEN (Blue Gene/Q) Super computer

Fig. JuQUEEN

It currently performs at more than 1.7 Petaflops. It was in 8th rank in the world in June 2012 in terms of speed. It was
upgraded with more racks in October 2012.

V. FUNDING

The project was funded chiefly by EPFL, to which Swiss government donates in turn. EPFL and ETH are the only two
federally-funded universities in Switzerland. Thisproject has also been funded by other organizations like EU research
grants and other entities, and individuals.
In the March of 2012 the ETH Board requested an amount ofCHF 85 million (70 m) from the Swiss government to fund
the Blue Brain Project during 2013 to 2016.
IBM actually isnt funding the project, but they gave their supercomputer named Blue Gene to Ecole Polytechnique
Federele De Lausanne at a minimal cost.IBM was actually interested in evaluating and examining the super computer on
different fields and BBP was one of them.

VI. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Advantages of Blue Brain
1. Blue brain is an approach to store and utilize human intelligence and information present in the mind even after
human demise.
2. It is an important move towards self-decision making by the computer or machine that holds a Blue brain.
3. Business analysis, attending conferences, reporting, etc. are very significant functions that an intelligent machine can
do consistently.
4. It can be used as an interface between human and animal minds. The BBP has become successful in rat and some
other animals which is a sign of success.
5. It a good remedy towards human disability like a deaf can get the information via direct nerve stimulation.

Disadvantages of Blue Brain

1. It increases the risk of human dependency on Blue Brain every time.
2. Once a Blue Brain related to a particular persons neural schema is hacked, the brain could be used against the very
person.
3. Since it an approach to make machines intelligent and thoughtful it increases the risk of machines conducting war
against human (like we have been watching in the movies like Terminator, Universal soldier, etc.)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank Asst. Prof. Mr. Fahad Iqbal for helping us with information and support.

REFERENCES

[1] http://www.sim.me.uk/neural/JournalArticles/Bamford2012IJMC.pdf
[2] Sandberg, Anders; Bostrm, Nick (2008). Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap.
[3] Joha Johansson C and Lansner A., Towards cortex sized artificial neural systems. Neural Networks nsson C and
Lansner A., Towards cortex sized artificial neural systems. Neural Networks, 2007
[4] http://www.ijareeie.com/upload/2014/apr14-special/7_anoopsaveetha.pdf
[5] http://www.theglobaljournals.com/ijar/file.php?val=August_2013_1375511933_1c067_60.pdf
[6] http://www.artificialbrains.com/blue-brain-project
[7] http://www.ijaiem.org/Volume2Issue3/IJAIEM-2013-03-28-091.pdf
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_upload
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_brain_emulation
[10] http://www.slideshare.net/kusumagroiya/blue-brain-26260533
[11] http://archive.org/stream/SingularityWikibook/Singularity-Wikibook_djvu.txt

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