One of the coolest new intersections of technology and biology is the sphere of neuroinformatics, where scientists use computational magic to find patterns in brain data. CAMH’s new Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics opened this fall with the goal of deploying the science to diagnose and treat mental illness. Staff will build large-scale models that simulate the brain’s circuitry to determine how mental illness affects different populations, learn the molecular causes of conditions like depression and schizophrenia, and develop new clinical treatments. The centre will employ up to 90 people—algorithmists, deep learning experts, mathematical modellers—all in the hopes of using the science of big data to get inside our heads.
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