News Release

Japanese research organizations contribute to Human Brain Project

RIKEN Brain Science Institute and OIST will contribute to one of the biggest and most ambitious international research projects to date

Grant and Award Announcement

RIKEN

One of the major frontiers of modern science is a comprehensive understanding of the human brain and its functions to guide the development of new technologies in information and communication. In a major announcement for the globalization of science, two Japanese research organizations, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and RIKEN, will join forces with a large European consortium on the Human Brain Project (HBP), which the European Commission has officially announced as one of two Future and Emerging Technology (FET) Flagship projects. The new project will federate international efforts to understand and simulate the human brain for the creation of new technological advances for society.

The goal of the Human Brain Project is to combine all existing knowledge about the human brain and to reconstruct the brain, piece by piece, in supercomputer-based models and simulations. The models will offer the prospect of a new understanding of the human brain and its diseases and of completely new computing and robotics technologies. On January 28, the European Commission supported this vision, announcing that it has selected the HBP as one of two projects to be funded through the new FET Flagship Program. With more than 80 European and international research institutions, the Human Brain Project will last for ten years (2013-2023). At a cost estimated at 1.19 billion euros the HBP will become one of the most ambitious efforts in the history of science that will focus international efforts on research objectives expected to stimulate the global economy.

With three teams involved in the project, the RIKEN Brain Science Institute will contribute to the identification of the brain structures underlying mental capabilities. By listening to the brain's activity during behavior, RIKEN investigators hope to reveal new principles of the mind and cognition. This information will guide the construction of the HBP brain model and stimulate the development of a new generation of brain-based computer and information technologies. Participating RIKEN faculty include Keiji Tanaka, Naotaka Fujii and Justin Gardner.

Dr. Naotaka Fujii's team will contribute to the Language group by studying the neural network mechanisms of primate learning of proto-language via nested sequential stimuli. Drs Keiji Tanaka and Justin Gardner will participate in the group studying the mechanisms of information integration in the brain. The process by which semantic knowledge of the world is developed based on visual object representations and how prior knowledge of the world influences visual perception.

Charles Yokoyama, Coordinator of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute-Human Brain Project collaboration, said: "The participation of RIKEN in the Human Brain Project marks a new era in international collaboration to study the brain; such a large-scale, coordinated effort is needed to produce consistent benefits for society."

OIST's contribution is led by Prof. Erik De Schutter, whose team participates in the development of the Brain Simulation Platform, a major software infrastructure effort. Specifically, the team at OIST will contribute its experience in programming software for the spatial simulation of the interaction between electrophysiological events and biochemical reactions in neurons.

"We are delighted that OIST will participate in this major international initiative," said De Schutter. "Our major challenge is how to integrate fine scale of modeling at the molecular level with large-scale modeling of whole brain regions."

The project will begin work in the closing months of 2013 and will be coordinated at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, by neuroscientist Henry Markram with co-directors Karlheinz Meier of Heidelberg University, Germany, and Richard Frackowiak of Clinique Hospitalière Universitaire Vaudoise (CHUV) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL).

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For more information on the HBP go to:
http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/vision.html

To download images and videos, go to:
http://bit.ly/HBPmediabox

For inquiries and more information about RIKEN, please contact:
Juliette Savin
Global Relations Office
Tel:+81-48-462-1225
Email: Juliette.savin@riken.jp

For inquiries and more information about OIST, please contact:
Kaoru NATORI
Media Section Leader, Communication and PR Division
Tel: 098-966-2389
Email: kaoru.natori@oist.jp

About RIKEN

RIKEN is Japan's most comprehensive research organization for basic and applied science. With institutes and facilities across Japan and collaborations with research institutions worldwide, RIKEN is at the forefront of research in fields spanning the entire range of the natural sciences, from developmental biology and neuroscience to quantum physics and computer science. RIKEN's goal is to translate discoveries in basic science to benefit Japanese and global society. A further aim of RIKEN's is to provide an international research platform for science in Japan: RIKEN supports a large and diverse population of top researchers from many countries worldwide.

About the RIKEN Brain Science Institute

The RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) was established to address the fundamental need for cutting-edge neuroscience research in the service of society and today enjoys an international reputation as an innovative center for brain research and training. Research at BSI integrates a wide range of disciplines to understand brain functions connecting neural circuits and cognition. The approaches span the fields of medicine, biology, physics, technology, information science, mathematical science, and psychology. BSI is also leading efforts to recruit talented researchers worldwide in support of global scientific career development.

About OIST

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) is a new graduate school established in November 2011, which aims to conduct internationally outstanding education and research in science and technology, and thus contribute to the self-sustaining development of Okinawa and promote the advancement of science and technology in Japan and throughout the world. The OIST graduate education and research program is cross-disciplinary and aims to be at the leading edge of research in science and technology, including the life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematics. To lay the foundation for the Graduate University, 45 research units with over 300 researchers have been launched so far, with research in the five major areas of neuroscience; molecular, cell, and developmental biology; mathematical and computational sciences, environmental and ecological sciences, as well as physics and chemistry. The first graduate class commenced in September 2012 with 34 students from 18 countries and regions.


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