Creating a 'Brain Map' Within 5 Years... Joint Research by 6 Countries

President Gukyang of DGIST (right) and President Kim Muhwan of POSTECH (left) are posing for a commemorative photo after the business agreement ceremony.

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] DGIST and POSTECH have embarked on a project to build a brain neural network map that will serve as a guide to understanding cognition, behavior, and mental processes of the brain, as well as treating brain diseases. The goal is to create a brain neural network map within five years through a joint research effort involving six countries.

On the 29th, DGIST and POSTECH announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the International SYNAPSE Project.

Through this agreement, the two institutions will participate in the International SYNAPSE Project as representatives of Korea. They will collaborate with a research consortium composed of six Asia-Pacific countries (Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, and Australia) to build a human brain neural network map. While such research would take 30 years if conducted by individual countries, the goal is to complete it within five years through joint research. This is expected to provide a framework for understanding brain activities such as cognition, behavior, and mental processes, and for treating brain diseases.

In this research, DGIST will utilize the supercomputer at its Supercomputing and Big Data Center, while POSTECH will use the synchrotron radiation accelerator at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory. POSTECH will collect images of the human brain neural network using the synchrotron radiation accelerator, and DGIST will store and analyze the data using the supercomputer. Subsequently, they will calculate interactions between synapses in the brain and establish related network systems.

Kim Muhwan, President of POSTECH, stated, "I hope that POSTECH and DGIST, as the main driving forces, will achieve great innovations in the fields of neuroscience and brain science, which remain among the greatest unknown areas."

Gukyang, President of DGIST, said, "We expect this research to lead the fields of neuroscience and brain science and to create a virtuous cycle of remarkable research achievements based on this foundation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.