[Tyler]

Scientists Create Logic Gates from Living Neurons
     



A recent news
release reveals that Elisha Moses and other
researchers from the Physics of
Complex Systems group at the Weizmann Institute have created functional
logical microcircuits from living neuron cells grown in a geometrical
design. So far, they've created AND gates, diodes (pictured above), and
a threshold
device that passes only signals whose strength exceeds a preset limit. The
researchers are pulling this off by coaxing nerves to grow along tiny
grooves etches in glass. They've also developed a way of triggering the
neurons with magnetic fields rather than direct electrical stimulation.
What's really interesting is that they've gotten so good at making these
neuronal devices, that they'll grow and test a custom design submitted
by you. Moses had
this to say about the project:
We have been able to enforce simplicity on an inherently
complicated system. Now we can ask, ‘What do nerve cells grown in
culture require in order to be able to carry out complex calculations?’
As we find answers, we get closer to understanding the conditions needed
for creating a synthetic, many-neuron ‘thinking’ apparatus.


It will be interesting to see if the "only brains made of
meat can be conscious" crowd are willing to accept the idea
of a meat-brained robot. For more information on the research, see the
group's web page, Logic
Devices from Neuronal Cultures. They've just published a research
paper with all the details in Nature, Reliable
neuronal logic devices from patterned hippocampal cultures. If you
don't want to pay Nature $30, you can
find some
of the details in their supplementary
information document (PDF format).
   

http://robots.net/article/2746.html