White House report proposes infrastructure for mapping connections in the brain; neuroscientists debate whether it could displace basic research
White House report proposes infrastructure for mapping connections in the brain; neuroscientists debate whether it could displace basic research
On July 21, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy published a report titled “Science: A New Golden Age.” On July 24, The Transmitter reported how neuroscientists responded to one of its examples.
A connectome is a map of the contacts between neurons. The OSTP report presents connectome mapping as a possible project for X-Lab, a U.S. National Science Foundation program that funds independent research organizations outside traditional academia. These teams receive operational autonomy, with funding tied to milestones.
The document outlines a hypothetical mission in which academic institutions, industry, and philanthropists would work together to produce larger scale maps of neural connections in several small mammal species. It proposes starting with circuits involved in reward and motivation. The authors compare the intended effect with that of the Human Genome Project, after which sequencing became a routine service. Maps of these circuits could support research into depression, addiction, and autism.
The debate concerns who will be able to conduct the science before the large infrastructure exists. Neuroscientist Jason Shepherd worries that, within a finite federal budget, large programs will leave less room for research that laboratories pursue out of curiosity. Jeff Lichtman, a pioneer of connectomic imaging, notes that the field’s methods emerged from universities, not from industrial demand.
Jan Wessel supports long-term funding for mission-driven research, but says that applying neuroscience in medicine will still require substantial basic research. Former National Institute of Mental Health director Thomas Insel states the choice more simply: the country needs both industrial teams and university science. Without both, a future shared research system may have no ideas ready to scale.