IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 1Michigan State University
Obama’s Brain Initiative andMultidisciplinary Education
Juyang (John) WengComputer Sci., Neurosci., Cognitive Sci.
Michigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 49924 USA
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 2Michigan State University
Brain Initiatives
4/2/2013 Obama announced his brain initiative To get a dynamic picture of the brain To better understand how we think, learn and
remember $100M/year plus $94M/year from private partners
EU has announced the Human Brain Project China is preparing its own brain project
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 3Michigan State University
The US President and BRAIN Obama :
“This is a Nation of dreamers and risk-takers.” “We do not just track the best scientists and
entrepreneurs” “We have not unlocked the mystery of 3 pounds of
matter that sits between our ears” “Better understand how we think, how we learn, and
how we remember.” “Presumably we life would be simpler here. It would,
could explain everything going on in Washington. (laughs)”
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 4Michigan State University
What is Required for the BRAIN Project?
Foremost: address the group intelligence problem
It is not that humans do not have sufficient information about how the brain works
Enough information is out there in the vast literature
Individual humans are “blinded” by the lack of group intelligence in the human race
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 5Michigan State University
Brain-Mind Institute
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 6Michigan State University
BMI 831Cognitive Science
for Brain-Mind Research
Instructor 2013:Juyang Weng
Brain-Mind Institute
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 7Michigan State University
BMI 871Introduction to Computational
Brain-Mind Instructor 2013:Juyang Weng
IJCNN 2013 Education Panel 8Michigan State University
Resistance to Understanding the Brain
From government branches From neuroscience From cognitive science or psychology From computer science From electrical engineering From mathematics
