Hacking the root of the brain

This Blue Brain article compels me to write another post. These guys are just amazing hackers in every way. Their accurate modeling of a neocortical column in a two-week-old rat has serious implications. It’s like solving the key problem that then solves everything else:

The gelatinous cortex consists of thousands of these columns—each with a very precise purpose, like processing the color red or detecting pressure on a patch of skin, and a basic structure that remains the same, from mice to men…every brain is made of the same basic parts. A sensory cell in a sea slug works just like a cortical neuron in a human brain. It relies on the same neurotransmitters and ion channels and enzymes. Evolution only innovates when it needs to, and the neuron is a perfect piece of design…like a real brain, the behavior of Blue Brain naturally emerges from its molecular parts.