Well, I'd say it certainly helps. Better headline with less clicks would be "mapping ... ALONE doesn't explain in it's function. Has anyone said connectome = function? Quick google I guess maybe Sebastian Seung could be accused of it.
It provides constraints, limits, ideas. Suppose the first collection of neurons we fully understand will be the nematode. I have little doubt that having a map of its components and their connectivity is a prerequisite to understand function. Function != Structure, but function = f(structure, weights, history, all sorts of chemical processes, neurotransmitters, ion channels...)
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but it's still made of its parts.
It provides constraints, limits, ideas. Suppose the first collection of neurons we fully understand will be the nematode. I have little doubt that having a map of its components and their connectivity is a prerequisite to understand function. Function != Structure, but function = f(structure, weights, history, all sorts of chemical processes, neurotransmitters, ion channels...)
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but it's still made of its parts.