# BICAN **Expanded name:** BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network **Entity class:** Research network and cell-atlas program **Collections:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] ## Definition **BICAN** is the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, an NIH-supported effort to build reference cell atlases for the mammalian brain. It supplies cell-type and molecular reference information that complements wiring diagrams and dynamic neural recordings; an atlas of cell identity leaves a person's momentary neural state or a transferable mind unresolved. ## Relationships - **Program relationship:** BICAN is part of the [[wiki/BRAIN Initiative|NIH BRAIN Initiative]] research ecology. - **Technical relationship:** BICAN relates cell-type atlases to [[wiki/Connectomics|connectomics]], [[wiki/Patch-seq|Patch-seq]], [[wiki/MERFISH|MERFISH]], and the [[wiki/State Sufficiency Problem|State Sufficiency Problem]]. - **Canonical source:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]]. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> ## Boundary Reference taxonomy, individual state, causal dynamics, and numerical identity remain separate evidentiary layers.