Brain computation: A computer science perspective

Abstract

The brain carries out tasks that are very demanding from a computational perspective, apparently powered by a mere 20 W. This fact has intrigued computer scientists for many decades, and is currently drawing many of them to the quest of acquiring a computational understanding of the brain. Yet, at present there is no productive interaction of computer scientists with neuroscientists in this quest. Research in computational neuroscience is advancing at a rapid pace, and the resulting abundance of facts and models makes it increasingly difficult for scientists from other fields to engage in brain research. The goal of this article is to provide—along with a few words of caution—background, up-to-date references on data and models in neuroscience, and open problems that appear to provide good opportunities for theoretical computer scientists to enter the fascinating field of brain computation.