Digital Brain Twins Fuel the Mind-Uploading Debate

San Francisco startup Eon Systems demonstrated a virtual fruit fly brain built from a complete connectome that can replicate neuron firing with 95% fidelity and move a digital body in a Sims-like environment. They call this a digital twin and see it as a step toward full brain simulation and mind uploading, but some scientists warn that consciousness may not arise from such simulations, arguing it’s a category error to infer experience from a replicated brain. Even if Eon reaches a mouse connectome soon, the leap to a conscious human brain remains uncertain given the brain’s immense complexity; however, the approach could still accelerate medical neuroscience by debugging brain mechanics in a controllable digital setting.