Sebastian Seung, a neuroscience and computer science professor at Princeton University and pioneer of the connectomics field, is launching a new startup called Memazing that aims to reverse-engineer brains in software, beginning with the complete wiring diagram of a fruit fly brain — a connectome featuring 140,000 neurons and 55 million synapses that took more than a decade to create and now serves as a foundation for digital brain emulation. At a recent salon on “synthesizing consciousness through neuroscience,” Seung explained that unlike conventional AI models that rely on massive amounts of statistical training data, Memazing intends to leverage nature’s own blueprint for intelligence by using actual neural connection maps as a basis for software simulations. Seung and his team have already begun inputting these connectome details into computer models to see if simulated neural activity can produce real-world behaviors, such as a robot responding to stimuli like a fly escaping a threat. The long-term vision of Memazing includes mapping increasingly complex brains and ultimately building full brain emulations that could deepen understanding of intelligence while driving more energy-efficient AI systems. Critics acknowledge the ambitious nature of the work and the daunting technical challenges ahead, but supporters argue that connectome-based approaches could provide unique insights into how animal brains work and how they might be simulated in machines, potentially opening new avenues for neuroscience and artificial intelligence. 

Source: Core Memory, Ashlee Vance,

Link: https://www.corememory.com/p/exclusive-connectome-pioneer-sebastian-seuing-memazing