One of the latest research projects signed off on by President Obama could yield scientific revolutions and possibly help cure diseases like Alzheimer's. The Brain Activity Map (BAM) project has been guaranteed to launch in 2014, and will be backed by $100 million in funding.

The project, which has been in development for some time, seeks to understand how brain networks function, in order for neuroscientists to tackle certain brain diseases. Obama has alluded to the initiative as one that could “unlock the answers to Alzheimer's.”

Six scientists outlined the proposal for BAM in the June 2012 issue of the brainy magazine “Neuron.” They are looking to develop non-invasive sensors and methods to perform experiments on single cells in neural networks, and to develop tools to monitor up to a million neurons at a time. It's not something that can happen overnight, and the team backing the venture has said it will take several years of research to achieve.

As of now, scientists have had a gap in their understanding of neurons. They possess the tools to watch a single neuron, and then they possess the tools to watch the whole brain in function. There's no technology available for the crucial in between experiences.

BAM looks to enable scientists to develop the costly technology that will allow them to monitor interacting networks of neurons at once.

Rafael Yuste, the co-director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Circuits at Columbia University, and a key member behind BAM, says that this yet-to-be-explored neural network action is “the missing piece” to understanding both mental and neurological diseases.  

Because the project is eating up so much funding – and there's only so much allotted to neuroscience – some scientists are concerned that government monies supporting other neural research will be slashed.