So there are some things that I think a simulator could accomplish. Mainly these things revolve around specific diseases. For example, maybe we can get an idea about parkinson's treatment by looking at how current loops move about the brain. This could give us a better understanding of brain stimulation-based treatment (hypothetically).

However, I think that really isn't the purpose of this simulator. I think the purpose is to create an artificial consciousness under the hypothesis that consciousness is nothing more than the sum of the brain's electrochemical signals. This is where I diverge from the mainstream. It is my firm belief that consciousness is a function of the individual rather than of the brain (and by extension it's really a property of the universe). A brain can no more be said to be conscious than a rock, IMO. Anyway, even if you could model it, why does that have anything whatever to do with animal consciousness? Machine "intelligence":consciousness::Pleather:animal skin.

We don't mistake pleather for animal skin, or PVC decking for wood, because they're approximations of nature made to look like the thing itself, but resembling it in no way other than cursory visual inspection. Anyway, these are kind of rambling and unconnected thoughts, so I apologize. If you go here I have some more well organized writing on the topic, but that's a 5000 word commitment, which is the minimum I could squeeze the tip of the iceberg into.