I'm a bit surprised the grad student or expert didn't discuss neuromodulators more. The fact is we already have the full connectome of a much simpler system, a worm (C Elegans). And this full mapping is considered insufficient to fully understand the simplified worm behavior because it doesn't fully capture the diversity of different neuromodulators and how they effect processing in neurons. It matters if the neuron is releasing dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, etc. There are ways to approximate these from EM images by analyzing the synapse properties, but ultimately it leads to a much larger problem in understanding neural processing.

In a similar light, the connectome project does not do a good job capturing synaptic strength. We don't really know just from the electron microscopy how strong the connections are. We can try and approximate it by looking at the size/formation of the synapse but ultimately this falls short.

For instance, my memory is that thalamocortical projections (thalamic nuclei to L4 of the cortex) do not make up the primary inputs to L4 on a structural connectivity level, but the strength of those connections are much stronger then the more numerous cortico cortical connections. I don't think the connectome from EM images will be able to pull that out.

The connectome is important, the same way knowing the human genome is important. However, it's really not going to tell us how to simulate a person. It's an important step to be sure, one we are still a good ways away from finishing last I checked (which was three years ago ...)

There was some very interesting research released just last month about autism, it found that the problem begins in the womb with tiny patches of badly developed cortex. The important thing is that these patches can be nearly anywhere, so the effects it can have can be really varied. Here is a summary if anyone's interested.
http://www.wlns.com/story/25082941/patches-of-cortical-layers-disrupted-during-early-brain-development-in-autism

Yep-Doesn't belong here because like myself, a buncha folks can't stand that faces-of-death shit for the sake of entertainment or spectacle....it's fucking twisted as far as I'm concerned and deleterious otherwise to the psyche and soul to meditate on the same, voyeuristically-speaking....reflects a general lack of healthy socialization and higher-cortical function.

Get a fucking life, stop watching ambulances and listening to television news stories about the carnage, fires, wife-beatings and human suffering in your local area, and have a NICE goddamned day

Can I down-vote this fucking shit that's not snuff but sucks huge, bulging moose cock yet??

I don't have a problem with his statement-Though cliched to a degree the point is obvious and from the looks of your rant you've got personal issues with this user or his simplified statement of what should be obvious to anyone with a larger proportion of neocortex, with disproportionate enlargement of pre-frontal and temporal association cortices than lower apes.

"I love to eat it everyday, and if you ask me why I'll saaaaaaaayyyyyy...!" (fill in the last line with more baloney!)

Walking stereotypes, really. Puny humans with their puny prefrontal cortices. Despicable, the lot of 'em.