Studying the function and connectivity of neurons in the brain involves coordinated, interdisciplinary efforts among scientists from various fields. Through the years, advancements in genetic markers, immunostaining, optical and electro-optical methods, electrophysiology, and computational tools have been made to identify neuronal types, explain their molecular machinery, untangle their wiring, decipher principles of neural coding, and to attribute functional roles to specific regions of the brain. The brain is a complex system and its activity spans over multiple temporal and spatial scales that require a comprehensive set of technologies to address these scales. Innovations in experimental methods to observe and perturb brain activity and in computational tools to analyze recorded data are needed to master the brain's complexity and advance our understanding of its function. Systems biology has allowed to bridge between molecular dynamics and whole cell simulations using multi-scale modeling. Applying similar approaches to brain activity will allow us to gain a more encompassing understanding of it. However, quantitative data at all these spatial and temporal scales are a prerequisite.
