Artificial neurons could help cure chronic diseases
Four universities in different countries worked together to develop a silicon nanochip that functions as the biological ion channels of real neurons
Researchers at the University of Bath (England) developed the first artificial neurons on a silicon chip on the fight to cure chronic diseases such as heart failure, Alzheimer’s and other neuronal degeneration diseases.
For years, one of the goals of medicine has been to design artificial neurons that respond to the electrical signals of the nervous system as if they were real neurons. The difficulty lies in the fact that very little is known about the functioning of neurons and their function in the brain.
However, researchers from the University of Bath and researchers from the Universities of Bristol (England), Auckland (New Zealand) and Zurich (Switzerland) have found the key that opens the way to the cure of chronic diseases.
The researchers have discovered that the responses of neurons to the electrical stimuli of the other nerves are nonlinear, which means that if a signal becomes twice as strong the reaction can become three times as large or more.
Knowing this they have managed to develop a silicon chip that functions as the biological ion channels of real neurons since they respond in the same way to different stimuli sent.
“Our neurons only need 140 nanowatts of power. That’s one billionth of the energy requirement of a microprocessor, which other attempts to make synthetic neurons have used. This makes the neurons suitable for bioelectronic implants for the treatment of chronic diseases,” said Professor Alain Nogaret from the University of Bath.
Source: dpa
