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Comment by Devilboy | Hacker News Reader

I have a question about this, I know that we have a complete wiring diagram of all 302 neurons in the C. elegans nervous system, so are we able to simulate that neural network and see the same behaviours as in the living nematode worm? I've seen papers that's focused on the locomotion circuit and other parts but I don't seem to be able to find any attempts at simulating the whole thing at once.

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  > (...) are we able to simulate that neural network and see the same
  > behaviours as in the living nematode worm?

No. With biological networks, wiring diagrams are only part of the bigger picture; (electro-)physiological differences matter a lot. This is especially true for small systems in which individual neurons perform highly specialized functions. (Mammalian neurons are substantially more generic!)

So the short answer is no; the longer answer is we're slowly getting there. Key problems are lack of plausible feedback from sensory etc. systems as well as currently inexplicable in vivo/in silico disparities.

I am acquainted with a person working on this: http://code.google.com/p/openworm/

The full set of information needed to model the c elegans worm seems to still be incomplete (see apl's reply), but if you want to monitor the progress of one such attempt at in silico simulation, take a look at the Openworm project ( http://www.openworm.org/ ).

My information is a few years old, and hearsay, but I gather that research focuses on locomotion because the worm moves differently than the wiring would imply. Which suggests that this mouse brain wiring will have less immediate utility than you might hope.

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