<p>In a breakthrough, Swiss scientists have developed a novel new microchip that works just like a human brain and exhibits cognitive abilities.<br /><br /></p>.<p>No computer works as efficiently as the human brain – so much so that building an artificial brain is the goal of many scientists, researchers said.<br /><br />Researchers from the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich in Switzerland have now made a "breakthrough" in this direction by understanding how to configure so-called neuromorphic chips to imitate the brain's information processing abilities in real-time.<br />They demonstrated this by building an artificial sensory processing system that exhibits cognitive abilities.<br /><br />Most approaches in neuroinformatics are limited to the development of neural network models on conventional computers or aim to simulate complex nerve networks on supercomputers.<br /><br />Few pursue the Zurich researchers' approach to develop electronic circuits that are comparable to a real brain in terms of size, speed, and energy consumption, researchers said.<br /><br />"Our goal is to emulate the properties of biological neurons and synapses directly on microchips," said professor Giacomo Indiveri.<br /><br />The major challenge was to configure networks made of artificial, ie neuromorphic, neurons in such a way that they can perform particular tasks, which the researchers have now succeeded in doing, researchers said.<br /><br />They developed a neuromorphic system that can carry out complex sensorimotor tasks in real time. They demonstrate a task that requires a short-term memory and context-dependent decision-making – typical traits that are necessary for cognitive tests.<br /><br />Researchers combined neuromorphic neurons into networks that implemented neural processing modules equivalent to so-called "finite-state machines" – a mathematical concept to describe logical processes or computer programmes.<br /><br />Behaviour can be formulated as a "finite-state machine" and thus transferred to the neuromorphic hardware in an automated manner, researchers said.<br /><br />"The network connectivity patterns closely resemble structures that are also found in mammalian brains," said Indiveri.<br /><br />The scientists thus demonstrate for the first time how a real-time hardware neural-processing system where the user dictates the behaviour can be constructed.</p>
<p>In a breakthrough, Swiss scientists have developed a novel new microchip that works just like a human brain and exhibits cognitive abilities.<br /><br /></p>.<p>No computer works as efficiently as the human brain – so much so that building an artificial brain is the goal of many scientists, researchers said.<br /><br />Researchers from the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich in Switzerland have now made a "breakthrough" in this direction by understanding how to configure so-called neuromorphic chips to imitate the brain's information processing abilities in real-time.<br />They demonstrated this by building an artificial sensory processing system that exhibits cognitive abilities.<br /><br />Most approaches in neuroinformatics are limited to the development of neural network models on conventional computers or aim to simulate complex nerve networks on supercomputers.<br /><br />Few pursue the Zurich researchers' approach to develop electronic circuits that are comparable to a real brain in terms of size, speed, and energy consumption, researchers said.<br /><br />"Our goal is to emulate the properties of biological neurons and synapses directly on microchips," said professor Giacomo Indiveri.<br /><br />The major challenge was to configure networks made of artificial, ie neuromorphic, neurons in such a way that they can perform particular tasks, which the researchers have now succeeded in doing, researchers said.<br /><br />They developed a neuromorphic system that can carry out complex sensorimotor tasks in real time. They demonstrate a task that requires a short-term memory and context-dependent decision-making – typical traits that are necessary for cognitive tests.<br /><br />Researchers combined neuromorphic neurons into networks that implemented neural processing modules equivalent to so-called "finite-state machines" – a mathematical concept to describe logical processes or computer programmes.<br /><br />Behaviour can be formulated as a "finite-state machine" and thus transferred to the neuromorphic hardware in an automated manner, researchers said.<br /><br />"The network connectivity patterns closely resemble structures that are also found in mammalian brains," said Indiveri.<br /><br />The scientists thus demonstrate for the first time how a real-time hardware neural-processing system where the user dictates the behaviour can be constructed.</p>