Artificial Neuron Functions Much Like Natural Nerve Cell

Swedish researchers have created an artificial organic neuron that closely mimics the characteristics of biological nerve cells. This artificial neuron can stimulate natural nerves, making it a promising technology for a variety of biomedical applications.

This work is a continuation of ongoing research at Linköping University (LiU) that previously demonstrated how an artificial organic neuron could be integrated into a living carnivorous plant to control the opening and closing of its maw.

In their latest study, the team developed a new artificial nerve cell called “conductance-based organic electrochemical neuron" or c-OECN, which closely mimics 15 out of the 20 neural features that characterize biological nerve cells, making its functioning similar to natural nerve cells.

“One of the key challenges in creating artificial neurons that effectively mimic real biological neurons is the ability to incorporate ion modulation. Traditional artificial neurons made of silicon can emulate many neural features but cannot communicate through ions. In contrast, c-OECNs use ions to demonstrate several key features of real biological neurons," says Simone Fabiano, senior author on the paper published today in Nature Materials.

In experiments conducted with the new c-OECN neurons, they were connected to the vagus nerve of mice. The results show that the artificial neuron could stimulate the mice’s nerves, causing a 4.5% change in their heart rate. The fact that the artificial neuron can stimulate the vagus nerve itself could, in the long run, pave the way for various forms of medical treatment.

The next step for the researchers will be to reduce the energy consumption of the artificial neurons, which is still much higher than that of human nerve cells. “There is much we still don’t fully understand about the human brain and nerve cells. In fact, we don’t know how the nerve cell makes use of many of these 15 demonstrated features. Mimicking the nerve cells can enable us to understand the brain better and build circuits capable of performing intelligent tasks. We’ve got a long road ahead, but this study is a good start,” says Padinhare Cholakkal Harikesh, main author of the scientific paper.