Australian researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed one of the world's first electronic long-term memory cell which mirrors human brain's ability to simultaneously process and store multiple strands of information.
The research carried out at MicroNano Research Facility of Melbourne-based RMIT University brought scientists closer to imitating key electronic aspects of the human brain. The development is a vital step towards creating a bionic brain which could help unlock successful treatments for common neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, varsity statement said.
The ground-breaking development imitates the way the brain uses long-term memory, said project leader Sharath Sriram, co-leader of RMIT Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group. "This is the closest we have come to creating a brain-like system with memory that learns and stores analog information and is quick at retrieving this stored information," Sharath said.
"The human brain is an extremely complex analog computer... Its evolution is based on its previous experiences, and up until now this functionality has not been able to be adequately reproduced with digital technology. The ability to create highly dense and ultra-fast analog memory cells paves the way for imitating highly sophisticated biological neural networks," he said.
The research builds on RMIT's previous discovery where ultra-fast nano-scale memories were developed using a functional oxide material in the form of an ultra-thin film - 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. "This new discovery is significant as it allows the multi- state cell to store and process information in the very same way that the brain does," said Hussein Nili, lead author of the study.
"Think of an old camera which could only take pictures in black and white. The same analogy applies here, rather than just black and white memories we now have memories in full colour with shade light and texture, it's a major step," Nili said. The research had myriad practical applications including the potential for scientists to replicate the human brain outside of the body.
"If you could replicate a brain outside the body, it would minimise ethical issues involved in treating and experimenting on the brain which can lead to better understanding of neurological conditions," Nili said. The research, published in the prestigious materials science journal Advanced Functional Materials, was supported by the Australian Research Council and University of California Santa Barbara.