Blue Brain Project

The Blue Brain Project was a Swiss brain research initiative that aimed to create a <a href="/facts/Artificial_brain/ohpdSjWe">digital reconstruction</a> of the mouse brain. The project was founded in May 2005 by the Brain Mind Institute of <a href="/facts/%25C3%2589cole_Polytechnique_F%25C3%25A9d%25C3%25A9rale_de_Lausanne/IBPANwjM">École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne</a> (EPFL) in Switzerland. The project ended in December 2024. Its mission was to use biologically-detailed digital reconstructions and <a href="/facts/Brain_simulation/TNmmLdQB">simulations of the mammalian brain</a> to identify the fundamental principles of brain structure and function.
The project was headed by the founding director <a href="/facts/Henry_Markram/w2wE3FCc">Henry Markram</a>—who also launched the European <a href="/facts/Human_Brain_Project/77NdNkM9">Human Brain Project</a>—and was co-directed by Felix Schürmann, Adriana Salvatore and <a href="/facts/Sean_Hill_(scientist)/PMtQW6Eb">Sean Hill</a>. Using a <a href="/facts/Blue_Gene/y4EvbyS4">Blue Gene</a> <a href="/facts/Supercomputer/HT9NwGAN">supercomputer</a> running Michael Hines's <a href="/facts/Neuron_(software)/HfbwxM1c">NEURON</a>, the simulation involved a biologically realistic model of <a href="/facts/Neuron/G7CyTVdH">neurons</a> and an empirically reconstructed model <a href="/facts/Connectome/X5tjEwwl">connectome</a>.
There were a number of collaborations, including the <a href="/facts/Cajal_Blue_Brain/NfxJtHyf">Cajal Blue Brain</a>, which is coordinated by the <a href="/facts/Supercomputing_and_Visualization_Center_of_Madrid/4oFHqYlX">Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid</a> (CeSViMa), and others run by universities and independent laboratories.

Blue Brain Project open-in-new

Blue Brain Project