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Published June 10, 2022 | Version Version 2.0
Working paper Open

The coming decade of digital brain research - A vision for neuroscience at the intersection of technology and computing

  • 1. Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany; C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2. Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany
  • 3. The Danish Board of Technology Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 4. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway
  • 5. Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, France
  • 6. Institute of Anatomy I, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany
  • 7. Institut Pasteur CNRS UMR 3571 Department of Neuroscience and Collège de France, Paris, France
  • 8. European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy; Department of Biology, University of Florence, Italy
  • 9. Neurological Institute Foundation Casimiro Mondino (IRCCS), University of Pavia, Italy
  • 10. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy
  • 11. ICREA, Barcelona, Spain, University Pompeu Fabra
  • 12. Laboratorio Cajal de Circuitos Corticales, Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain; Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
  • 13. Paris-Saclay University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France;
  • 14. Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany; Institute of Computer Science, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 15. Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (JBI-1 /INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • 16. Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  • 17. Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg,Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg,Magdeburg, Germany; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
  • 18. Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 19. Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany,
  • 20. Centre for Research Ethics and Bioethics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
  • 21. Aix-Marseille Univ, Inserm, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, France
  • 22. Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom
  • 23. Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • 24. Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • 25. Neurophy lab, ULB Neuroscience Institue, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
  • 26. Computational Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Communication, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • 27. Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia
  • 28. Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany; Health Sciences Department, Boston University, USA
  • 29. Helmholtz Zentrum München Institut für Entwicklungsgenetik, Germany;
  • 30. Athena Research & Innovation Center, Greece; University of Athens, Greece
  • 31. Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS) UMR1106, France
  • 32. Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Research Centre Jülich, Germany
  • 33. Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany
  • 34. Université de Liège, Belgium
  • 35. University of Ghent, Belgium
  • 36. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Germany
  • 37. nstitute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Palermo, Italy
  • 38. Department of Informatics, Technical University Munich, Germany
  • 39. University of Brussels, Belgium
  • 40. FernUniversität in Hagen Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Germany; Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Research Centre Jülich, Germany
  • 41. Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA, DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Universite Paris-Sud, Universite Paris-Saclay, Neurospin Center, France
  • 42. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Rome, Italy
  • 43. Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 44. Hasselt University, Belgium; Biomedical Research Institute & Data Science Institute
  • 45. Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg / Heidelberg University, Germany; University of Bern, Switzerland
  • 46. Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, Postbus 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 47. Université de Mons, Belgium
  • 48. Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Germany; Bernstein Focus State Dependencies of Learning & Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Germany
  • 49. Bernstein Center Freiburg & Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
  • 50. ProModell Group, Chair for Digital Health, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
  • 51. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, CHUV, Switzerland;
  • 52. Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • 53. ICREA and Systems Neuroscience, Institute of Biomedical Investigations August Pi i Sunyer, Spain
  • 54. Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg / Heidelberg University, Germany;
  • 55. Inria Saclay - Ile de France, Neurospin - Service Neurospin, France
  • 56. Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (JBI-1/INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany; Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Germany
  • 57. Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven, Belgium
  • 58. University of Antwerp, Belgium

Description

Brain research has in recent years indisputably entered a new epoch, driven by substantial methodological advances and digitally enabled data integration and modeling at multiple scales – from molecules to the whole system. Major advances are emerging at the intersection of neuroscience with technology and computing. This new science of the brain integrates high-quality basic research, systematic data integration across multiple scales, a new culture of large-scale collaboration and translation into applications. A systematic approach, as pioneered in Europe’s Human Brain Project (HBP), will be essential in meeting the pressing medical and technological challenges of the coming decade. The aims of this paper are

  • To develop a concept for the coming decade of digital brain research
  • To discuss it with the research community at large, with the aim of identifying points of convergence and common goals
  • To provide a scientific framework for current and future development of EBRAINS
  • To inform and engage stakeholders, funding organizations and research institutions regarding future digital brain research
  • To identify and address key ethical and societal issues

While we do not claim that there is a ‘one size fits all’ approach to addressing these aspects, we are convinced that discussions around the theme of digital brain research will help drive progress in the broader field of neuroscience.

Comments on this manuscript are welcome

This manuscript is a living document that is being further developed in a participatory process. The work has been initiated by the Science and Infrastructure Board of the Human Brain Project (HBP). Now, the entire research community is invited to contribute to shaping the vision by submitting comments. Comments can be submitted via an online commentary form here.

All submitted comments will be considered and discussed. The final decision on whether edits or additions will be made to the next version of the manuscript based on an individual comment will be made by the Science and Infrastructure Board (SIB) of the Human Brain Project (HBP) at regular intervals.

New versions of the manuscript will be published every few months on Zenodo. Comments may be submitted until the beginning of 2023. During the Human Brain Project Summit 2023, the manuscript will be adopted by HBP and non-HBP participants, and a final version will be published shortly after.

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The coming decade of digital brain research_V1.pdf

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Additional details

Funding

HBP SGA3 – Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 3 945539
European Commission