The MIT team, led by research scientist Chi-Sang Poon, has been able to design a computer chip that can simulate the activity of a single brain synapse.<\/p>\n
Activity in the synapses relies on so-called ion channels which control the flow of charged atoms such as sodium, potassium and calcium.<\/p>\n
The ‘brain chip’ has about 400 transistors and is wired up to replicate the circuitry of the brain.<\/p>\n
Current flows through the transistors in the same way as ions flow through ion channels in a brain cell.<\/p>\n
"We can tweak the parameters of the circuit to match specific ions channels… We now have a way to capture each and every ionic process that’s going on in a neuron," said Mr Poon.<\/p>\n
Neurobiologists seem to be impressed.<\/p>\n
It represents "a significant advance in the efforts to incorporate what we know about the biology of neurons and synaptic plasticity onto …chips," said Dean Buonomano, a professor of neurobiology at the University of California.<\/p>\n
"The level of biological realism is impressive," he added.<\/p>\n
The team plans to use their chip to build systems to model specific neural functions, such as visual processing.<\/p>\n
Such systems could be much faster than computers which take hours or even days to simulate a brain circuit. The chip could ultimately prove to be even faster than the biological process.<\/p>\n