Scientists in the US and Switzerland will take on the challenge of making a 3D model of the human brain.

The Blue Brain project will take the next two years for scientists from IBM and The Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) to create a detailed model of the neocortex, the largest and most complex piece of the human brain. They will use the ultrafast Blue Gene supercomputer to build the model, according to a press release.

These efforts will be the greatest investigation yet into the mysteries of the human brain. Scientists will seek to model such concepts as thought, memory, and perception, and work on the molecular level to do so.

Further efforts will focus on brain disorders – how they happen and why. With that information, scientists can help other researchers find ways to combat depression, autism, and other disorders.

IBM researchers have a lot of experience with simulating biological conditions, and their work with complex simulations will be needed to help render in 3D the fast electro-biochemical workings of the brain.

The use of the Blue Gene supercomputer gives researchers the chance to quickly implement experiments that would take much longer in a lab. “With certain simulations we anticipate that a full day’s worth of wet lab research could be done in a matter of seconds on Blue Gene,” said Henry Markram, the EPFL professor heading up the project.

Initially, the project will focus on mapping the neocortex. Scientists think the neocortex, which comprises about 85 percent of the brain’s mass, houses the functions of learning, language, memory, and complex thought.

An accurate functioning model of the neocortex will provide a link between molecular, genetic, and cognitive levels of the brain’s operation. Once an accurate replica has been finished, scientists can begin to model other parts of the brain, and eventually have the whole brain mapped.

David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.