Scientists create a microchip that replicates the human brain

Scientists create a microchip that replicates the human brain

Consumes the same energy as biological neurons. A chip 100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair is capable of replicating the activity of a biological brain with the same neurological voltage. Thirty years ago, researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst discovered a
proteobacteria called the Geobacter in the Potomac River that could produce nanowires of electrically conductive proteins.

The device works extremely efficiently with very little power, as brains do, to transport signals between neurons, the researchers explain in an article
published in Nature Communications.

Neuromorphic Computing

This result is especially encouraging the so-called neuromorphic computing, which aims to create chips that work as the human brain does.

The first step

This feat has been made possible by the use of protein nanowires developed at the university from the Geobacter bacterium, the researchers said in a statement.

It should be noted that achieving a device that mimics neural connections requires replicating the same feat that neurons perform with the synapses.

Methodology

Researchers have had the ability to cut the nanowires in bacteria to use only the electrically conductive protein.

And in addition it learns

It is not however the only advantage of the device, 100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair: it is also capable of learning.

Projections

So far, they have considerably blurred the

1. The work is far from finished.
2. The researchers aim to fully explore the chemistry, biology, and electronics of protein nanowires in these devices.
3. It is possible that the applications of these devices could include a heart rate monitoring device.
4. The ultimate purpose is that one day this device will be able to communicate with real neurons in biological systems and solve health problems.

That is, to get computers as efficient as the biological brain.
line between computers and biological systems.

Bioinspired bio-voltage memories. Tianda Fu et al. Nature Communications, volume 11, Article number: 1861 (2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15759-y.

Originally published at https://www.matconlist.com on April 30, 2020.