It depends on how you model the neurons/networks in the brain. For example, if you do it this way: http://www.nature.com/news/fragment-of-rat-brain-simulated-in

It depends on how you model the neurons/networks in the brain. For example, if you do it this way: http://www.nature.com/news/fragment-of-rat-brain-simulated-in-supercomputer-1.18536 http://www.nature.com/news/fragment-of-rat-brain-simulated-i... then you'll need a lot more computing power, as they do. But they are aiming to eventually build an artificial brain as you describe. If you just want to create an artificial thalamus (probably connected to deep learning-like layers, since those are loosely based on the layers of the cerebral cortex), you can start much smaller: https://books.google.com/books?id=VTduCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1159&lpg=PA1159&dq=artificial+thalamus&source=bl&ots=ukvWf5265_&sig=bCIV6C49Pb3IOLXY_4DE1Xe1GfI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnhPjcq9LKAhUBEGMKHeslD2UQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=artificial%20thalamus&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=VTduCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1159&lpg...