Synthetic neural circuits made from silicon can accurately mimic the electrical properties of nerve cells, researchers reported yesterday (December 3) in Nature Communications. The research aims to lead to the development of implantable bionic neurons that would help to restore brain circuits that have lost their electrical connection and might help to combat paralysis and possibly diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

“Any area where you have some degenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s, or where the neurons stop firing properly because of age, disease, or injury, then in theory you could replace the faulty biocircuit with a synthetic circuit,” study coauthor Alain Nogaret of the University of Bath tells The Guardian.

In the study, Nogaret and colleagues combined mathematics, computation, and chip design to model the firing patterns of a neuron from the rat hippocampus—a brain region involved in learning and memory—and of a neuron in the animal’s brainstem where breathing is controlled. The team then reproduced those firing patterns from the computer model in silicon chips.

“Until now, neurons have been like black boxes, but we have managed to open the black box and peer inside,” Nogaret tells the BBC. “Our work is paradigm-changing because it provides a robust method to reproduce the electrical properties of real neurons in minute detail.”

He notes to The Guardian that the aim of the research is not to build an entire artificial brain but to develop bionic neurons and circuits to help in treating disease.


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