Nov 20, 2025
3 min read
Japan's Fugaku supercomputer has recreated the entire cerebral cortex of a mouse with 10 million neurons and 26 billion synapses.The 'virtual brain' will allow diseases such as Alzheimer's and epilepsy to be studied with an unprecedented level of detail.
A supercomputer capable of 400 quadroillion calculations per second has created the world's largest "virtual brain".
It is based on facts directly observed and confirmed by our journalists or sources.
Supercomputer Fugaku has for the first time recreated the entire cerebral cortex of a mouse: about 10 million neurons and 26 billion synapses.This development will help in the study of diseases like Alzheimer's or epilepsy.
The race to create the world's strongest allergen has been going on for years.These supercomputers make it possible to solve scientific problems impossible for a traditional computer: No more nose creams and new drugs or taking into account the nature of nature.
In Spain, projects such as Marenostrum 5 in Caléndula, Barcelona, Caléndula in San Sebastián, Spain, or the new Quanzhou supercomputer show that it has become a major part of advanced computing research.
However, in this unprecedented growth scenario, the one that stands out the most is Japan's Fugaku, one of the fastest growing.
Fugaku, developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu, is capable of performing more than 400 quadrillion operations per second.To visualize it: if a person tried to count to this number by saying one number per second, it would take more than 12.7 billion years, almost the age of the universe.
Another interesting fact is that it consists of 158,976 nodes.Each node has its own processor and memory as a small complete computer, which has about 160,000 machines working at the same time.This massive architecture is as important to recognize as Fuguku's repetitive complexity: the largest and most detailed brain creation in the world.
10 million neurons and 26 billion synapses
A Japanese supercomputer has for the first time recreated the entire cerebral cortex of a mouse, a digital model that includes nearly ten million neurons, 86 interconnected brain areas and 26 billion synapses (a connection point where one nerve cell sends chemical or electrical signals to another to communicate).This advance represents a before-and-after stage in the study of brain function and makes it possible to simulate neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or epilepsy in a completely virtual environment.
In recent years, a large number of computers have come from the centers of artists to implement the necessary infrastructure to solve impossible problems.
This project, developed by the Allen Institute (US) in collaboration with the University of Electronic Communications in Japan, transforms the open decade into the digital cortex.
The researchers used databases such as the Allen Cell Types database and the Mouse Connectivity Atlas to translate real-world biology into mathematical equations using the Brain Modeling Toolkit.The Neulite neural simulator then converted these equations into digital neurons that can fire, send impulses, and communicate like real neurons.
The result is not a simple visualization, but a model that reproduces both the form and function of the cortex: from the arborescent morphology of each neuron to the ion flow and membrane voltage fluctuations.The simulation also shows the spontaneous activity that the brain performs during rest, which is necessary to study its natural function.
What can we do with this advance?
This model allows scientists to bring the church into the computer.It allows them to see how the activity spreads between areas, how the neurological damage starts, or how the disease progresses through the connection.It also makes it easier to test hypotheses quickly and without problems without the need to obtain live tissue.According to the researchers, this type of trial can lead to the development of treatment, reveal the process treatment and improve the understanding of serious neurological disorders.
Those responsible for the project assure that this achievement is not the end, but the beginning.Now that they have shown that it is possible to simulate the entire cortex of a mouse with biophysical precision, their next goal is to create a complete model of the mouse brain.And, in the long run, we move towards human simulations that still seem like science fiction today, but are starting to emerge as a viable prospect.
Details of this achievement will be announced in mid-November at SC25, the world's leading supercomputing conference.
