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WesleyBedrosian

Mind Scientific American Volume 313, Issue 3 Forum

Why Neuroscience Needs HackersBrain researchers are overwhelmed with data. Hackers can help

ByDanielGoodwin | Aug18,2015

Therewasatimewhenneuroscientistscouldonlydreamofhavingsuchaproblem.Nowthefantasyhascometrue,andtheyarestrugglingtosolveit.Brilliantnewexploratorydevicesareoverwhelmingthefieldwithanavalancheofrawdataaboutthenervoussystem'sinnerworkings.Thetroubleisthatevenstartingtomakesenseofthisbonanzaofinformationhasbecomeasuperhumanchallenge.

Justabouteverybranchofscienceisfacingasimilardisruption.Aslaboratorybenchresearchmigratesintothedigitalrealm,programmingisbecominganindispensablepartoftheprocess.Atthesametime,previouslydependablesourcesoffinancialsupportaredryingup.Theresulthasbeenapainfulscarcityofjobsandgrantswhich,inturn,isimpellingfartoomanygiftedresearcherstofocusontheirnarrowareasofspecializationratherthaninvestingtimeandenergyintoacquiringnew,computerageskills.Infieldswheredatagrowthisespeciallyoutofcontrol,suchasneuroscience,thedemandforcomputerexpertiseisgrowingasquicklyastheinformationitself.

Scienceurgentlyneedshackershackersintheoriginal,TechModelRailroadCluboftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologysenseoftheword.Theirengineeringanddesignskillswillbeuseful,butwhatismostdesirableisthetruehacker'sresourcefulness,curiosityandappetiteforfreshchallenges.Particularlyinafieldlikeneuroscience,helperscouldbeinvaluableinexploringthedauntingwildernessofnewlyrevealedneuralnetworks.

Afewpioneersareleadingtheway.OneisH.SebastianSeung,aprofessorattheNeuroscienceInstituteandinthedepartmentofcomputerscienceatPrincetonUniversity.Afewyearsagoheandhiscollaboratorssetouttomaptheretina'sneuralconnections.Astheycollectedanoverwhelmingmassofelectronmicroscopydata,thequestionwashowtheywouldevermanagetointerpretitall.Seung'sfamiliaritywithstateoftheartcomputingtoldhimthatnoartificialintelligencealgorithminexistencecouldpossiblyhandlethetaskalone.

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