Creative way to study info neuron networks

Thomas DeMarse, the University of Florida professor of biomedical engineering, used neurons in culture dishes to study neurocomputing. He used a multi-electrode array, which is located at the bottom of the dish , and laid over rat cortical neurons, which form a more or less ‘brain’ comprised of 25,000 neurons. Then he linked the array with a flight simulator and watch what would happen.

“Initially when we hook up this brain to a flight simulator, it doesn’t know how to control the aircraft,” DeMarse said. “So you hook it up and the aircraft simply drifts randomly. And as the data comes in, it slowly modifies the (neural) network so over time, the network gradually learns to fly the aircraft.”

Although the brain currently is able to control the pitch and roll of the simulated aircraft in weather conditions ranging from blue skies to stormy, hurricane-force winds, the underlying goal is a more fundamental understanding of how neurons interact as a network, DeMarse said.

UPDATE: University of Florida published this news at UF SCIENTIST: “BRAIN” IN A DISH ACTS AS AUTOPILOT, LIVING COMPUTER”.