Is a network of neurons the only factor in memory? Background

I'm actually writing a science fiction novel set a couple decades in the future. Brains are not my field. I've done as much research as I could.

In the story, the protagonist finds out he has died, but to have his deceased brain scanned, mapping out all the nuerons and synapse connections. Perhaps with an advanced MRI.

Then a "system" essentially iterates over many various stimuli. Simulating to the brain the visual sensation of seeing a bird, for example. The machine looks for the corresponding neurons to fire when seeing a bird. The machine iterates over many birds to understand how this brain stores "birds", and repeats this process for basically anything that could be detected from the senses.

Then this brain could be stored in a computer and bioprinted. 

I've seen videos of researchers today simulating a primitive network of neurons, so this seems vaguely possible. I know we are also currently capable of bioprinting blood vessels and skin today.

Question

If a brain was bioprinted with the exact neuron network and synapse connections as a host brain, would this brain theoretically hold the previous memories from the host it's made from?
Answer
Yes, theoretically.

Now
According to my ongoing informal research, there are two sides of brain preservation innovation: 1) the preservation and mapping (building) the connectome; and 2) the reinstantiation of memories and/or creating consciousness from a connectome.
From http://www.brainpreservation.org/overview/:

[N]euroscience is now identifying the synaptic and nuclear structures
that contain our unique memories and identity, and new electron
microscopy (EM) imaging techniques are allowing us to verify when
these structures have been successfully preserved, from gross
connectivity in the connectome, all the way to particular synaptic
features, receptor distributions, and even the signal states
(phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, etc.) of individual brain
proteins and epigenomic DNA.
[…]
Recently, MRI machines have been built that can image individual cell
proteins, improbable as this sounds. Such technology may one day give
us the ability to inexpensively and nondestructively scan preserved
brains to upload the molecular features of memory and identity.

From http://www.brainpreservation.org/content-2/connectome/:

What is a Connectome?
A connectome* is the complete map of the neural connections in a
brain. It is sometimes referred to as a “wiring diagram” of the
molecular connections between neurons, trading on the analogy of a
brain to an electronic device, where axons and dendrites are wires and
neuron bodies are components. Depending on the scientist, the term
connectome may or may not also include learning-relevant molecular
states at each synaptic connection (the “synaptome”) and any
learning-relevant changes in the nucleus of each neuron (the
“epigenome”).



Progress
Recently, &quot;The Small Mammal BPF Prize&quot; was won. It's one in a series of competitions for brain preservation (BP) achievements. This competition is doing for BP what XPRIZE is doing for space innovation with competitions like the Ansari X Prize.
The winning team used a combination of plastination (chemopreservation) and cryonics (cryopreservation) to preserve a rabbit brain. From the press release http://www.brainpreservation.org/small-mammal-announcement/:

The Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize has officially been won by
researchers at 21st Century Medicine. Using a combination of ultrafast
chemical fixation and cryogenic storage, it is the first demonstration
that near­ perfect, long­-term structural preservation of an intact
mammalian brain is achievable.


Future
In regard to reinstantiation of memories and/or creating consciousness: when progressive innovations in technology enable mapping of the entire connectome, the next step is applying a &quot;runtime&quot; to the structure. This runtime is described as &quot;cycles&quot; by György Buzsáki in his book Rhythms of the Brain.

In a sequence of &quot;cycles,&quot; György Buzsáki guides the reader from the
physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to
complex cognitive processing and memory storage.

Book resources:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rhythms-Brain-Gyorgy-Buzsaki/dp/0199828237
EDU (PDF): http://www.caam.rice.edu/~yad1/miscellaneous/References/Neuroscience/Papers/Hippocampus/RythmsOfTheBrainBuszaki.pdf




Example 1
The OpenWorm project is an example of contemporary connectome innovation, which is a necessary step for the memory/consciousness side of BP. From http://www.openworm.org:

OpenWorm is an open source project dedicated to creating the world’s
first virtual organism in a computer, a C.elegans nematode. Throughout
the years we have built a network of relationships with with many
biologists and neuroscientists interested in C. elegant.

From http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/c-elegans-connectome/:

Because a lone connectome is a snapshot of pathways through which
information might flow in an incredibly dynamic organ, it cannot
reveal how neurons behave in real time, nor does it account for the
many mysterious ways that neurons regulate one another's behavior.
Without such maps, however, scientists cannot thoroughly understand
how the brain processes information at the level of the circuit. In
combination with other tools, the C. elegans connectome has in fact
taught scientists a lot about the worm's behavior; partial connectomes
that researchers have established in the crustacean nervous system
have been similarly helpful. Scientists are also learning how to make
connectomes faster than before and to enhance the information they
provide. Many researchers in the field summarize their philosophy like
this: &quot;A connectome is necessary, but not sufficient.&quot;



Example 2
I believe Stanford's computer model of an organism is in the scope of BP and could be the foundation of what eventually becomes entire brain/connectome virtualization. This breakthrough is an example of the technological capabilities in 2012. Now, in 2016 with AI tech on the rise, exponential progress in this field may become a reality in our lifetime.
From http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/july/computer-model-organism-071812.html:

[In 2012] Stanford researchers produce first complete computer model
of an organism. A mammoth effort has produced a complete computational
model of the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium, opening the door for
biological computer-aided design.

From http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(12)00776-3:

Understanding how complex phenotypes arise from individual molecules
and their interactions is a primary challenge in biology that
computational approaches are poised to tackle. We report a whole-cell
computational model of the life cycle of the human pathogen Mycoplasma
genitalium that includes all of its molecular components and their
interactions. An integrative approach to modeling that combines
diverse mathematics enabled the simultaneous inclusion of
fundamentally different cellular processes and experimental
measurements. Our whole-cell model accounts for all annotated gene
functions and was validated against a broad range of data. The model
provides insights into many previously unobserved cellular behaviors,
including in vivo rates of protein-DNA association and an inverse
relationship between the durations of DNA replication initiation and
replication. In addition, experimental analysis directed by model
predictions identified previously undetected kinetic parameters and
biological functions. We conclude that comprehensive whole-cell models
can be used to facilitate biological discovery.