US 11,817,220 B2
Reconstruction and simulation of neocortical microcircuitry
Henry Markram, Lausanne (CH); Eilif Benjamin Muller, Preverenges (CH); Sean Lewis Hill, Lausanne (CH); and Felix Schuermann, Grens (CH)
Assigned to ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL), Lausanne (CH)
Filed by Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (CH)
Filed on Oct. 10, 2017, as Appl. No. 15/728,614.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/405,400, filed on Oct. 7, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2018/0101660 A1, Apr. 12, 2018
Int. Cl. G16H 50/50 (2018.01); G16C 20/50 (2019.01)
CPC G16H 50/50 (2018.01) [G16C 20/50 (2019.02)] 16 Claims
 
1. A simulation method implemented by a data processing apparatus, the method comprising:
providing a virtual volume of neural tissue as a reconstruction of neocortical microcircuitry, comprising providing a computer-implemented model of the neural tissue, the model including different types of neural cells and dynamic synaptic interconnections between the neural cells;
performing in silico knockout experiments on the virtual volume of neural tissue to simulate functioning of the neocortical microcircuitry, comprising:
receiving multiple user inputs, wherein each user input changes a respective morphological characteristic of at least one type of neural cell in the computer-implemented model, wherein the change in the respective morphological characteristic
i) blocks activity in a respective layer of the neural tissue to changes a behavior of neural cells in the neural tissue, or
ii) blocks respective types of connections in the neural tissue to changes the interconnectivity between neural cells in the neural tissue; and
identifying changes in a synchronicity of neuronal activity in the computer-implemented model of the neural tissue responsive to the changes in the morphological characteristics, comprising identifying shifts of the neural tissue towards a synchronous state or an asynchronous state in response to the changes in the morphological characteristics; and
determining a mechanism of a disease state or an impact of a drug based on the changes in the synchronicity of the neuronal activity.