The Blue Brain Project has developed a predictive, algorithmic reconstruction strategy that integrates sparse experimental data to derive principles of brain structure and function. A first draft detailed anatomical and physiological map of a prototypical neocortical microcircuit will be presented. This approach uses state-of-the-art neuroinformatics approaches to integrate knowledge and data from the literature and from experimental neuroscience including single and multi-cell electrophysiology, morphological reconstruction, gene expression, ion channel kinetics and in vitro network experiments using multi-electrode arrays. The resulting data-driven model microcircuit is 0.28 mm3 in volume and contains 31,000 neurons belonging to 55 morphological neuron types and 207 morpho-electrical sub-types distributed across 6 layers. Simulating this model gives rise to a diverse array of network states which recreate many aspects of in vitro and in vivo cortical dynamics and responses to stimuli. We use these simulations to reproduce multiple experimental findings and identify key principles of cortical microcircuit structure and function.

Bio:

Dr. Sean Hill is the inaugural Director of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada and Director of the Laboratory for the Neural Basis of Brain States with the Blue Brain Project in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to this, he was co-Director of Blue Brain, a Swiss brain initiative, where he led the Neuroinformatics division. Dr. Hill served as co-director of the EU Human Brain Project during its start-up phase, developing the core design of the neuroinformatics infrastructure and leading its development. Dr. Hill has served as Executive Director and Scientific Director of the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Hill has extensive experience in building and simulating large-scale models of brain circuitry and currently supervises and leads research efforts exploring the principles underlying the structure and dynamics of neocortical and thalamocortical microcircuitry. He also serves in management and advisory roles on several large-scale clinical informatics initiatives around the world. After completing his Ph.D. in computational neuroscience at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, Dr. Hill held postdoctoral positions at The Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, then joined the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and served as the Project Manager for Computational Neuroscience in the Blue Brain Project until his appointment at the EPFL.