A European effort to understand the brain
The Human Brain Project (HBP) was a major European scientific initiative devoted to brain research. Between 2013 and 2023, it brought together researchers in neuroscience, medicine and computing with a shared ambition: to better understand the brain and turn that knowledge into new scientific, medical and technological tools.
Its contribution also involved a way of working: connecting data, models and teams studying different scales, from cells to brain networks. That effort produced digital brain atlases, simulation tools and a shared research infrastructure.
Our participation in the innovation community
In 2022, Scignals took part in meetings of the Spanish HBP Innovation Community, in contact with the UPM Innovation and Technology Transfer Node. These innovation communities connected research with companies, hospitals and other organisations interested in its applications.
For a company like ours, working on biomedical signal acquisition and processing, participating was an important opportunity to learn first-hand about a large European initiative and explore connections with our work in neuromonitoring and brain-machine interfaces. Its value lay in that contact between research and technology development: discovering tools, sharing interests and understanding where the field was heading.
Scignals was also included in the 2021 HBP report on neurotechnology companies (p. 37), with a description of its neuromonitoring activities.
EBRAINS: carrying the work forward
The HBP concluded in September 2023, but its legacy continues through EBRAINS, the European digital research infrastructure created by the project. It offers data, brain atlases, modelling and simulation tools, and computing resources for collaborative brain research.
The major goals remain: understanding brain organisation and function, advancing research into brain disorders, and helping translate knowledge into health applications and new technologies. EBRAINS carries that ambition forward by providing shared resources for the research community and connecting it with technology development.
Explore the tools and research activities on the official EBRAINS website.