A Synthetic Brain Synapse Is Constructed From Carbon Nanotubes

By Clay Dillow Posted 04.22.2011 at 10:18 am 12 Comments

Synthetic Synapse USC Viterbi School of Engineering

Building a synthetic brain is no easy undertaking, but researchers working on the problem have to start somewhere. In doing so, engineers at the University of Southern California have taken a huge step by building a synthetic synapse from carbon nanotubes.

In tests, their synapse circuit functions very much like a real neuron--neurons being the very building blocks of the brain. Tapping the unique properties of carbon nanotubes, their lab was able to essentially recreate brain function in a very fractional way.

Of course, duplicating synapse firings in a nanotube circuit and creating synthetic brain function are two very different things. The human brain, as we well know, is very complex and hardly static like the inner workings of a computer. Over time it makes new connections, adapts to changes, and produces new neurons.

But while a functioning synthetic brain may be decades away, the synthetic synapse is here now, which could help researchers model neuron communications and otherwise begin building, from the ground up, an artificial mimic of one of biology’s biggest mysteries.

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12 Comments

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BaPef

04/22/11 at 11:57 am

And the singularity gets a step closer

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drchuck1

04/22/11 at 12:54 pm

soon the machines will have all they need

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boka

04/22/11 at 1:40 pm

I think it's an outrageous statement to say that a functioning synthetic brain is decades away. 10 years, at the most.

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B.V.

04/22/11 at 1:45 pm

Yeah! And by 1980 we'll all have jet packs, flying cars, and live on the moon!

Oh wait...

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Jeremybb

04/22/11 at 2:08 pm

Looks like the author of this article and the one it piggybacks off of need to learn the difference between a neuron and a synapse.

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QIII

04/22/11 at 11:28 pm

Someone started working on synthetic neurons based on those of politicians.

When a weak electrical charge was applied, the neurons said one thing and did another.

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profparker

04/23/11 at 12:04 am

Article is about our project. Little confusion between neuron and synapse. We fabricated a synapse. And a very simplified one. That is all. :) Many decades away from a brain, I believe. :)

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beefymclovin

04/23/11 at 1:29 pm

so how long til an artificial brain filled w nanobots that continuously build new connection as controlled by the brain?

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JediMindset

04/24/11 at 7:13 pm

sounds like the Rise of the Machines. we are doomed. just as humanity found a way to survive, machines will do the same and become self aware.

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RSoon

04/26/11 at 5:01 pm

An artificial brain being one thing, what application could this have in the field of prosthetics?

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Black hat guy

05/05/11 at 8:53 am

@ Rsoon,

They can make a synapse (or neuron, take your pick) that can apparently function. Forget the whole idea of building a fake brain (BTW what purpose does that serve?). I can see them repairing spinal cord tissues with this new tech. This could form a whole new medicinal level of awesome. Rock on, temporary paraplegics!

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imersion

04/26/13 at 6:31 am

Memristors can mimic synapses too. Built out of nanomaterials

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