Google reveals ZAPBench to predict brain activity in zebrafish and unlock new AI-powered neuroscience research
If we are lucky, Artificial intelligence might one day help scientists understand the human brain the same way language models predict the next word in a sentence. And now, that future is closer to becoming reality thanks to a new project from Google Research, Harvard University, and HHMI Janelia. You see, these teams have introduced the Zebrafish Activity Prediction Benchmark, better known as “ZAPBench,” which could help researchers create more accurate models for predicting brain activity.
ZAPBench isn’t just another dataset, folks. Actually, this new tool is based on two hours of brain recordings from larval zebrafish, capturing how roughly 70,000 neurons fired in response to different virtual reality scenarios. These tiny fish were shown various environmental changes, including shifting light patterns and moving water currents, while researchers recorded brain activity at an impressively detailed scale.
Google maps mouse brain
Researchers on Google's Connectomics team have achieved the largest AI-assisted digital reconstruction of human brain tissue to date. Now, they are turning their attention to the mouse brain to further unravel the mysteries of neural connections.
The recent accomplishment involved mapping just 1 cubic millimeter of human brain tissue, a task that required an astounding 1.4 petabytes of data. This tiny section, equivalent to half a grain of rice, revealed unexpected structures within neurons. "We found some of the wires will wrap themselves into these giant knots," says Google Research Scientist Viren Jain. "We have no idea why -- nobody's ever seen it before."