The 86 or so billion neurons in the human brain and the hundreds of trillions of connections between them allow us to think, walk, talk and interact with one another. It is no exaggeration to say all human nature lies within. The more we understand how it works, the better we can diagnose and treat neurological disorders from autism to Alzheimer’s.

The 10-year €1.19bn project to simulate the entire human brain, announced on Monday by the European Commission is, at about a sixth of the cost of the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest neuroscience project undertaken. It is an important, but flawed, step to a better understanding of the organ’s workings.

The flaw lies in the unrealistic goal. In the words of the science journal Nature, The Human Brain Project’s goal of a complete simulation is “a breathtaking ambition that has been met with some scepticism”. Although it would be valuable – enabling researchers, for example, to test the effects of mental-health drugs – the complexity of the organ is far too intricate to be modelled accurately with today’s computers. By most estimates, this is likely to be out of reach for decades.