A computer chip that can 'learn' could improve our understanding of how the brain works, lead to a better human-machine interface and pave the way for artificial intelligence.The chip has the ability to mimic the brain's plasticity - the malleable quality that allows neurons to adapt in response to new information - which is necessary for learning.Using approximately 400 transistors, the researchers built circuits on the silicon chip that mimic sub-cellular mechanisms, in particular the way neurons change their connection strength. 'We built the chip to have the same current and voltage levels as a real biological neuron,' says Guy Rachmuth, one of the inventors of the chip whose PhD thesis at MIT in Massachusetts, USA, formed part of the research.
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