[redofrac]

While the worm in question, C.Elegens, is vastly simpler than the human brain, the numbers don't paint the complete picture. When you look at the product of evolution in such a system, every single neuron has a very precise role. Moreover, the balance/interaction between those 302 neurons are also very difficult to disentangle. There are also some pretty big biological differences, for instance, C.elegens neurons don't typically transmit information through spikes! Instead they show gradual polarization and depolarization. Now you look at the human brain, and the immense complexity means that there's no way that every neuron can have a precise genetically encoded role - there simply wouldn't be enough information. Instead, we assume that there have to be more generalizable patterns of how neurons are organized and communicate. For example, we know that the way the visual cortex organizes information between the two eyes is dependent on correlated input from the eyes themselves ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance_column) and that without sensory information provided by the eyes this organization will never develop.

All this to say that there are important differences between being able to fully model a small, tightly optimized bundle of specialized neurons (and non-neuronal cells, we've only recently begun understanding how important glial cells are to brain function), and searching for general abstractions of information processing in the human brain.