German Researchers to Simulate Entire Human Brain Using Supercomputer Jupiter
Researchers at the Jülich Research Center in Germany aim to simulate the entire human brain using the supercomputer Jupiter, the fourth most powerful in the world. Building on a detailed mapping of neural circuits in a fruit fly brain completed in 2024, which contains around 150 meters of wiring and 54.5 million synapses, the team plans to model billions of active neurons.
Previous efforts, such as the Human Brain Project, have largely failed despite substantial funding. The new approach will connect models of smaller brain regions and utilize Jupiter's capabilities, including thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs), to run complex simulations.
Last month, the team successfully demonstrated that a spiking neural network could be scaled on Jupiter, simulating 20 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections. While these simulations mark significant progress, researchers caution that they provide only a limited view of actual brain functioning.
