New project proposed to map the human brain

A new initiative to map the human brain has been proposed by President Obama according to a story in today’s New York Times.

The Times reports that the project is designed "to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics."

According to today’s article, “The project, which the administration has been looking to unveil as early as March, will include federal agencies, private foundations and teams of neuroscientists and nanoscientists in a concerted effort to advance the knowledge of the brain's billions of neurons and gain greater insights into perception, actions and, ultimately, consciousness.”

"Scientists with the highest hopes for the project also see it as a way to develop the technology essential to understanding diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as to find new therapies for a variety of mental illnesses.”