Directorate of Neural Continuity

Overview

The Directorate of Neural Continuity (DNC) conducts the Department’s research in computational neuroscience. It is led by the Associate Director for Neural Continuity, who holds the title Director, Directorate of Neural Continuity, and who also serves as Program Executive for the Neural Continuity Research Program (NCRP).

The Directorate’s subject is the most ambitious of the Department’s research questions: whether the structure and function of a human brain could one day be measured completely enough, and modeled faithfully enough, for a person’s cognition to be sustained on computational systems. The Directorate states that question directly and treats it as open. No such capability exists, and the Directorate’s research plan is designed to establish, stage by stage, what would be required and whether it is achievable. Its current work is foundational: acquisition standards, emulation benchmarks using small organisms whose nervous systems are fully mapped, and the governance of neural data.

Since NCRP was chartered on 9 June 2026, the Directorate has published DSC-TR-2026-009 on technical requirements for synaptic-resolution acquisition and released Version 0.9 of the Neural Data Preservation Framework for public comment. With OLSR it authored the working paper DSC-WP-2026-006 on criteria for identity continuity, and with CIA-DSC it contributed to DSC-TR-2026-008 on the compute and energy requirements of large-scale emulation.

The Directorate operates under closer ethical oversight than any other part of the Department. Every research protocol is reviewed by the Research Ethics Review Board before it begins, the Directorate’s scientific progress is reviewed by the External Scientific Advisory Board, and its charter specifies conditions under which work pauses automatically. The Directorate considers this oversight a condition of doing the work at all, not a constraint on it.

DNC staff are based at headquarters and at Facility Alpha, where the NCRP emulation benchmark suite runs on ALPHA-1. Program data are preserved at Facility Bravo and, for designated reference datasets, at Facility Charlie.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Neural Continuity Research Program and manage its phases, gates and Program Office.
• Develop acquisition standards for synaptic-resolution brain mapping and coordinate inter-laboratory comparison.
• Build and operate the NCRP emulation benchmark suite and assign Emulation Fidelity Levels only on verified evidence.
• Steward the Neural Data Preservation Framework and the custody of all NCRP data.
• Prepare protocols for RERB review and implement RERB conditions and suspensions.
• Conduct research on memory representation, cognitive reconstruction and the structure-to-function gap.
• Collaborate with OLSR on identity continuity and the ethics of emulation research.
• Provide neural-emulation workload requirements to the Continuity Infrastructure Initiative.

Organization

Connectomics and Acquisition Branch

Develops specimen preparation, imaging and reconstruction methods, maintains reference volumes, and leads the NCRP acquisition standards working group.

Computational Neuroscience and Emulation Branch

Builds network and biophysical models from reconstructed data, operates the emulation benchmark suite on ALPHA-1, and conducts research on plasticity, memory representation and cognitive reconstruction.

Validation and Fidelity Office

Defines verification procedures for each Emulation Fidelity Level, specifies functional tests before models are run, and reviews fidelity claims independently of the teams that make them.

Neural Data Stewardship Office

Administers the Neural Data Preservation Framework, including retention tiers, provenance records, access control and coordination with CIA-DSC preservation services.

Research Ethics Liaison Office

Prepares protocol submissions to the RERB, tracks conditions of approval, maintains consent documentation standards and records any pauses under the Program’s moratoria conditions.