Blue Brain Project has announced a new system for distinguishing cell types in the brain. It represents an algorithmic classification method that the researchers say will benefit the entire field of neuroscience. ReliaWire brought this interesting topic to our attention in their article, “An Objective Classification Algorithm For Brain Cells.”

For for the past century, scientists have been trying to name cells in the same way that Darwin described animals and trees. Anatomists have been assigning names and debating the different types for the past century, while neuroscience has been unable to tell which types of neurons are subjectively characterized.

Now, a mathematical algorithm has been developed to objectively classify the shapes of the neurons in the brain. This breakthrough will allow the development of a standardized taxonomy of all cells in the brain.

The Blue Brain Project is digitally reconstructing and simulating the brain. By removing the ambiguity of cell types, the process of identifying the morphological type of new cells will become fully automated.

Melody K. Smith

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