Scientists studying how neural networks function are today releasing a set of 40 sophisticated computer models of neurons.

The virtual neurons reproduce the physiology and electrical activity of neurons with an extremely high level of detail. The Allen Institute for Brain Science in collaboration with the Blue Brain Project are now making these resources available to researchers around the world on the web

“The goal is to provide the scientific community with simulation-based tools and techniques that can give us a better understanding of how neurons and neural networks function,” said leader of the Blue Brain Project, Eilif Muller.

The predictive power of the Blue Brain Project’s simulated neurons has already led to a number of discoveries such as revealing the unexpected role of calcium in controlling brain states.

The Allen and the Blue Brain Project hope that similar feats will be achieved by offering up their computer models to the wider scientific community.

“This is a watershed moment, when we can really have an impact: we’re a Swiss project that is central to a major European project; now we’re reaching out to the scientific community around the world,” said neuroscientist Sean Hill.

“Understanding the brain, here the nonlinear processing in cortical dendrites, is too difficult a task to accomplish in any other way,” added chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute, Christoph Koch.

The Allen Institute and the Blue Brain Project are in talks with other teams of researchers about further collaborations.

The virtual neurons that are released today are an accurate reproduction of the biophysical activity of their real counterparts. In particular, their modelling the activity of dendrites – treelike extensions of neurons through which they integrate input from other neurons – is especially realistic.

The two teams have stressed that this was only achieved by virtue of having an Open Science policy in place.

“Combining the data, tools and knowledge from the world’s two largest neuroscience-oriented enterprises demonstrates the synergy that can be achieved by an Open Science policy, freely sharing all available data and metadata,” said Koch.