Brain (Credit: Bigstock)

Mapping the Brain for Machine Learning

Our Contribution

APL leads several test and evaluation efforts for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONs) project, launched to develop state-of-the-art machine-learning capabilities by modeling how the brain processes information. APL has developed a novel cloud-based capability for storing, accessing, and processing petabytes (millions of gigabytes) of neuroanatomical data—the Block and Object Storage Service—that enables researchers from across the nation to conduct large-scale neuroscience inquiries. Additionally, APL scientists oversee the processing of data collected from targeted neuroscience experiments and evaluate the performance of various algorithms to automate identification of neural connections. The technologies that APL developed under MICrONs are already being leveraged by the broader research community and serve as a foundation for our future BRAIN initiative work and similar programs with global reach.

Mapping the Brain: Johns Hopkins APL's CIRCUIT Program

Researchers from Johns Hopkins APL partnered with Johns Hopkins University students this summer on a pilot program called CIRCUIT (Connectomics Institute for Reconstructing Cortex: Understanding Intelligence Together).

The ten-week summer internship program combined a sponsored research opportunity to map the brain to nanoscale resolution, intensive training, and mentor support. CIRCUIT undergraduate students from a variety of academic backgrounds collaborated to help proofread brain maps that were generated through the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program. MICrONS is an applied research program by IARPA that seeks to reverse engineer the algorithms of the brain to revolutionize machine learning.

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