I have to admit that the beginning of Sebastian Seung‘s talk on connectomes was a bit confusing. He speaks slowly and with purpose, but being unfamiliar with neuro science or connectomics, I was a bit lost. However, my confusion was abated after the first two minutes.

In his TED talk, Dr. Seung outlines a map that he sees as more accurate than DNA for understanding what a person really “is.” This is a connectome – a map of the connections that exist between all of your neurons. While such a map is a huge undertaking, Seung is ambitious and hopeful, and he explains why in his talk below: