The Human Brain Project-Synergy between neuroscience, computing, informatics, and brain-inspired technologies

Abstract

The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a European flagship project with a 10-year horizon aiming to understand the human brain and to translate neuroscience knowledge into medicine and technology. To achieve such aims, the HBP explores the multilevel complexity of the brain in space and time; transfers the acquired knowledge to brain-derived applications in health, computing, and technology; and provides shared and open computing tools and data through the HBP European brain research infrastructure. We discuss how the HBP creates a transdisciplinary community of researchers united by the quest to understand the brain, with fascinating perspectives on societal benefits.

Fig 1. Multiscale organization of brain connectivity.

Different methods are being used in the HBP to analyze neuronal connections from the nanometer scale to the centimeter scale. Although TEM/SEM (e.g., Rodriguez-Moreno and colleagues [5]) and CLSM/TPFM (e.g., Silvestri and colleagues [6]) can image subcellular structures, including synapse, with great detail, they cannot cover the whole human brain. 3D-PLI has a spatial resolution down to 1.3 μm, which resolves most of the myelinated fibers, and has the potential to image the whole human brain (e.g., Axer and colleagues [7]). Diffusion MRI is an in vivo method covering the whole brain, but with limited spatial resolution, which does not resolve single nerve fibers (e.g., Beaujoin and colleagues [8]). The possibility to link these different data shows the great advantage of HBP—it facilitates the combination of approaches at scale, backed by high-performance computing and the data exchange infrastructure FENIX. CLSM, confocal laser scanning microscopy; FENIX, Federated Exascale Network for data Integration and eXchange; HBP, Human Brain Project; PLI, polarized light imaging; TEM, transmission electron microscopy; TPFM, two-photon fluorescence microscopy. Figure elements provided by Markus Axer.

Fig 2. The HBP integrated platform.

Research data from experiments, models, or simulations are uploaded to data storage at the HBP high-performance computing centers. The data are tagged with metadata through a 3-tier curation process covering basic metadata, metadata connecting the data to the HBP Atlases, and additional detailed metadata depending on the data modality. The data are made accessible for users through searches for metadata (“Faceted data search” or “Spatial search”) in the online HBP Knowledge Graph and HBP Atlases. The “Search results” give access to collections of data accompanied by information about the project they belong to, the experimental methods used to produce the data, the terms of use, and the citation requirements for use of the data. In the present implementation, users can (1) download the data, (2) inspect the data using an online atlas viewer or a virtual microscopy tool showing image data with atlas overlays and spatial coordinates, or (3) analyze the data using the “Tools and workflows for viewing and analysis” accessible through the HBP Collaboratory, the portal to the use of HBP tools and services, or directly through the atlas for some cases. The HBP Knowledge Graph and HBP Atlases are openly available at https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/explore-the-brain/. Accounts for use of the HBP Collaboratory can be requested at https://services.humanbrainproject.eu/oidc/login. HBP, Human Brain Project. Image credits: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118277, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002383, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000173 (based on a dataset available at doi:10.12751/g-node.f83565).