Validation Methodology for Neural Digital Twins
From Biophysical to Functional: Two Generations of Neural Digital Twins The first generation of neural digital twins was biophysical. The Blue Brain Project (EPFL, 2005–2024) reconstructed cortical microcircuits at morphological and biophysical detail — individual neurons with reconstructed dendrites, calibrated ion channels, stochastic synapses. Validation meant checking 40+ experimental constraints: layer-specific firing rates, connection probabilities, orientation selectivity indices. The framework that systematized this validation was DMT (Data, Models, Tests), developed 2017–2024 and published in eLife. ...