BRAIN Initiative

Participants in BRAIN and affiliates of the project include DARPA and IARPA as well as numerous private companies, universities, and other organizations in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Denmark.

In September 2011, molecular biologist Miyoung Chun of The Kavli Foundation organized a conference in London, at which scientists first put forth the idea of such a project.

[4][5][6] The President also directed the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to explore the ethical, legal, and societal implications raised by the initiative and by neuroscience in general.

NSF planned to receive advice from its directorate advisory committees, from the National Science Board, and from a series of meetings bringing together scientists in neuroscience and related areas.

They proposed the development of nanoparticles that could be used as voltage sensors that would detect individual action potentials, as well as nanoprobes that could serve as electrophysiological multielectrode arrays.

[4] Physicist Michael Roukes argued instead that methods in nanotechnology are becoming sufficiently mature to make the time right for a brain activity map.

[25] Parallels have been drawn to past large-scale government-led research efforts including the map of the human genome, the voyage to the moon, and the development of the atomic bomb.