A team of scientists under the leadership Myung J. Lee from Intelligent Devices and Systems Research Group at DGIST has developed an artificial synaptic device that simulates the function of nerve cells (neurons) and synapses responsible for memory in the human brain. Synapses are the point of meeting of axons and dendrites which allow the neurons in the brain to send and receive nerve signals; it is known that in the human brain hundreds of trillions of synapses.
Group Dr. Li has developed a highly reliable artificial synaptic device due to the calculations of the oxide of tantalum — a rare metal in two layers of Ta2O5 and TaO2-x, and control surface.
Artificial synapses: a path to artificial brain
Artificial synapse, developed by scientists, is an electrical device that simulates the function of synapses in the brain, since the resistance of the oxide layer of tantalum gradually increases or decreases depending on the strength of electrical signals. They managed to overcome the limitations of existing devices by distributing the current in a single layer Ta2O5-x.
Also, scientists were able to conduct an experiment in which he reproduced the plasticity of the synapse in fact, the process of creating, storing, and removal of memories due to long-term strengthening or suppression of memory by adjusting sinapovo connections between neurons.
Scientists developed device can be used in devices with ultra-low-power circuits or processing massive amounts of data through parallel processing capabilities at low power. It is useful in such technology areas as artificial intelligence, machine and deep learning, brain implants.
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Artificial synapses mimic the human brain function
Ilya Hel