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.