Microchip to emulate cerebral cortex

Scientists are trying to emulate the workings of the brain's "grey matter" in silicon, to help understand how it functions.

Researchers have for some years tried to model relatively simple structures like the retina using neural networks that use transistors to emulate the electrical states of working nerve cells.

Software emulations of neural networks are also used to help solve real-life problems such as character recognition.

But, according to a report in the latest MIT Technology Review, a new project at Stanford plans to create a neural chip that will enable researchers to emulate and investigate the working of the cerebral cortex, the grey matter of popular legend that is responsible for "higher" brain functions such as reasoning and memory. Research with this first chip will then be used to build a next-generation version, in a process that could lead to an increasingly refined model.

As a first step to creating the chip, Stanford neuroengineer Kwabena Boahen has created a circuit board with 16 chips consisting of a 256-by-256 array of silicon neurons, groups which can be given different electrical properties to emulate different cortical cells. Pathways between the cells can also be programmed to model cortical structures.

The work could eventually lead to silicon implants that replace motor or sensory functions lost by brain damage, Technology Review reports.