Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Next time you consider benefits that could come from becoming a fly on the wall … toss in robot flies that yield secrets about the human brain. How so?

An international contingent of research experts is meeting this week to create a  "virtual fly brain" as a way to understand more about how human brains work.

Neuroscientists, biologists and computer experts are currently gathering in Edinburgh to look into possibilities for simulating the brain of drosophila fruit flies. Why create a robot from this species?

Apparently, this  fruit fly possesses about 100, 000 neurons. Within a rather simple brain ... the fruit fly manages complex behavior, including a unique capability to learn.

J Douglas Armstrong, at Edinburgh University's Centre for Bioinformatics, will host the mind-bending  event. It's hoped that a successful fruit fly robot will offer vivid clues about how human brains work – especially key interactions between the brain and  body.

An interesting meeting to attend ... even if just as a fly on the wall. Would you agree?