How do 100 billion neurons talk to each other? What is actually happening when the brain "organizes itself" during development or "reorganizes itself" after injury? What is happening in the brain when pharmacoactive drugs alter behavior? What are the true functional underpinnings of perception, recognition, emotion, understanding, consciousness, and subconscious processes? The answers to these and many other questions might be answered as a result of a proposed large-scale, international public effort called the Brain Activity Map (BAM) Project. This aim of this project is to record every action potential from every neuron in a circuit. The "map" has the potential to explain many unknowns about the brain and provide information that may lead to prevention, improved treatments, and potential cures for brain and behavior disorders (eg, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, autism, and schizophrenia).
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