Creation of cyborg computer chips now closer to reality

Scientists have for the first time stored information in live neurons, bringing closer to reality, the creation of cyborg computer chips that combine electronic circuits with human cells.

London, June 9 : Scientists have for the first time stored information in live neurons, bringing closer to reality, the creation of "cyborg" computer chips that combine electronic circuits with human cells.

Networks of cultured neurons are known to spontaneously fire in specific patterns.

Researchers have previously attempted to program these neural networks with new patterns, representing bits of information, by electrically stimulating individual cells.

However, such zapping disrupts their spontaneous firing patterns, and for a network to successfully store information, new firing patterns must be imprinted without erasing the old.

Now, Itay Baruchi and Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University in Israel have taught new firing patterns to a network of neurons by targeting specific points of the network with a chemical called picrotoxin.

The new patterns lasts for up to two days without harming the pre-existing firing patterns.

"You can think of it like a Christmas tree with lights that flicker. We imprinted another pattern of lights on top of the original," said Ben-Jacob.

The two believe since complex patterns of neuronal firing are templates for memory, which the brain uses when storing information, imprinting such "memories" on artificial neural networks could provide a potential way towards developing cyborg chips.

These would be useful for monitoring biological systems like the brain and blood since, being human, they would respond to the same chemicals, Ben-Jacob added.

The research appears in the journal Physical Review Letters, reports New Scientist.

ANI