CaltechAUTHORS
Published September 1, 2020 | Version Supplemental Material + Published
Journal Article Open

Computational neuroscience: a frontier of the 21st century

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon New York University
  • 2. ROR icon Zhejiang University
  • 3. ROR icon Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition
  • 4. ROR icon Stem-Cell and Brain Research Institute
  • 5. ROR icon Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • 6. ROR icon Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology
  • 7. ROR icon New York University Shanghai
  • 8. ROR icon Hainan University
  • 9. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 10. ROR icon Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • 11. ROR icon Peking University
  • 12. ROR icon Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Abstract

The human brain is a biological organ, weighing about three pounds or 1.4 kg, that determines our behaviors, thoughts, emotions and consciousness. Although comprising only 2% of the total body weight, the brain consumes about 20% of the oxygen entering the body. With the expensive energy demand, the brain enables us to perceive and act upon the external world, as well as reflect on our internal thoughts and feelings. The brain is actually never at 'rest'. Brain activities continue around the clock, ranging from functions enabling human–environment interactions to housekeeping during sleep, including processes such as synaptic homeostasis and memory formation. Whereas one could argue that sciences in the last century were dominated by physics and molecular biology, in the current century one of our major challenges is to elucidate how the brain works. A full understanding of brain functions and malfunctions is likely the most demanding task we will ever have.

Additional Information

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Published: 12 June 2020.

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
105948
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20201009-095131678

Dates

Created
2020-10-09
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering (BBE)