motiv8er
Well-known member
- Awards
- 1
Brain cells fused with computer chips
Tests with neurons could lead to better computers, brain treatments
P. Fromherz / NACHIP / Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
A neuron from a rat brain sprawls over a linear array of transistors. The cell's ionic current interacts with the electronic current in the silicon.
View related photos INTERACTIVE
• The brain
An interactive road map to the mind
livescience
• New Gallery: Extreme Adventures
• How Dolphins Spin, and Why
• How Songbirds Change Tune
• New City-sized Iceberg Created Near Antarctica
• Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
Most Popular
• Most Viewed • Top Rated • Most E-mailed
• Attorney says minister’s wife ‘very confused’
• Former defense secretary Weinberger dies
• White House shake-up — chief of staff resigns
• British man indicted in family’s deaths
• Found Oregon couple goes missing again
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• Beverly Cleary, Age 90
• Farmers, environmentalists block Navy facility in 'military-friendly' NC
• Former DeLay aide enriched by nonprofit
• Swimming With Sharks
• Hero of Katrina, sheriff may be prosecuted
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• Brain cells fused with computer chips
• Attorney says minister’s wife ‘very confused’
• Former defense secretary Weinberger dies
• Ex-Village People cop faces jail sentence
• Hybrid cars may not be green machines
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
By Ker Than
Updated: 1:01 p.m. ET March 27, 2006
The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.
The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders, or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.
To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.
Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.
"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.
P. Fromherz / NACHIP / MPIB
Snail neurons form a network on a silicon chip.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.
It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.
"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.
The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.
Tests with neurons could lead to better computers, brain treatments
P. Fromherz / NACHIP / Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
A neuron from a rat brain sprawls over a linear array of transistors. The cell's ionic current interacts with the electronic current in the silicon.
View related photos INTERACTIVE
• The brain
An interactive road map to the mind
livescience
• New Gallery: Extreme Adventures
• How Dolphins Spin, and Why
• How Songbirds Change Tune
• New City-sized Iceberg Created Near Antarctica
• Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
Most Popular
• Most Viewed • Top Rated • Most E-mailed
• Attorney says minister’s wife ‘very confused’
• Former defense secretary Weinberger dies
• White House shake-up — chief of staff resigns
• British man indicted in family’s deaths
• Found Oregon couple goes missing again
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• Beverly Cleary, Age 90
• Farmers, environmentalists block Navy facility in 'military-friendly' NC
• Former DeLay aide enriched by nonprofit
• Swimming With Sharks
• Hero of Katrina, sheriff may be prosecuted
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
• Brain cells fused with computer chips
• Attorney says minister’s wife ‘very confused’
• Former defense secretary Weinberger dies
• Ex-Village People cop faces jail sentence
• Hybrid cars may not be green machines
• Most viewed on MSNBC.com
By Ker Than
Updated: 1:01 p.m. ET March 27, 2006
The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.
The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders, or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.
To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.
Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.
"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.
P. Fromherz / NACHIP / MPIB
Snail neurons form a network on a silicon chip.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.
It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.
"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.
The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.
