Such a network, akin to the type of big, expensive facilities historically built for physicists and astronomers by governments, was first mooted 3 years ago, when Rafael Yuste, a neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York, and five
colleagues drafted the proposal for what would ultimately become President Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
I benefited enormously from helpful
colleagues who read and commented on endless
drafts and also provided their services as collaborators on my
proposals.