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Researchers from the IBM Almaden research lab and the University of Nevada have created a simulation that was as big and as complex as half of a mouse brain on the BlueGene L supercomputer. Half a real mouse brain is thought to have about eight million neurons each one of which can have up to 8,000 connections. Using the BlueGene L supercomputer the researchers created half a virtual mouse brain that had 8,000 neurons & had up to 6,300 connections.

In other smaller simulations the researchers say they have seen characteristics of thought patterns observed in real mouse brains. In these other tests the team saw the groups of neurons form spontaneously into groups. The researchers say that although the simulation shared some similarities with a mouse’s mental make-up in terms of nerves and connections it lacked the structures seen in real mice brains. For future tests the team aims to speed up the simulation, and make it more neurobiologically faithful, by adding structures seen in real mouse brains