Integrating evolving brain-gene ontology and connectionist-based system for modeling and knowledge discovery

The brain is a dynamic information processing system that evolves its structure and functionality in time through information processing at different levels — Fig. 1: the quantum, molecular, single neuron, ensemble of neurons, cognitive, and evolutionary levels. At a molecular level, RNA and protein molecules evolve in a cell and interact in a continuous way, based on the stored information in the DNA and on external factors, and affect the functioning of a cell (neuron). At the level of a neuron, the internal information processes and the external stimuli in their interplay cause the neuron to produce a signal that carries the information to be transferred to other neurons (Arbib, 2003; Freeman, 2000), which is a continuous, evolving process. At the level of neuronal ensembles, all neurons operate in “concert”, defining the function of the ensemble through continuous learning (Cooper, Intrator, Blais, & Shouval, 2004). At the level of the whole brain, cognitive processes take place in a life-long learning mode and global information processes are manifested, such as consciousness (Arbib, 2003; Chalmers, 1996; Grossberg, 1982; Taylor, 1999). At the evolutionary level, population of individuals and species evolve through generations, changing the genetic DNA code for a better adaptation (Darwin, 1859). A project, called The Blue Brain Project, marks the beginning of a study on how the brain works by building very large scale models of neural networks (http://bluebrainproject. epfl.ch/index.html). This endeavor follows a century of