A version of the classic computer game pong has been taught to hundreds of thousands of human neurons.
In doing so, the cells join a growing pantheon of pong players, including pigs and monkeys who are wired to control the game with their minds. Many years ago, the DeepMind artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithms mastered Pong and have since moved on to more-sophisticated computer games.
The cells that respond to electrical signals from the dish are known as the gaming cells. The cells are stimulated and recorded in the data. The visual depiction of the game was created by researchers.
The work shows that cells in a dish can learn and show signs of intelligence. He says that in current textbooks, neuron are thought of mostly in terms of their implications for human or animal biology A neuron is an amazing system that can process information in real time with very low power consumption.
The neurons in the system are far cry from an actual brain and show no signs of consciousness. Intelligence is defined as the ability to combine information and apply it in an adaptive manner.
Steve Potter is an engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The team reported in 2008 that rats can show learning and goal- directed behavior.
Potter says the work from Cortical Labs brings more sophisticated technology and analytical tools. Each dish has thousands of electrodes. Potter's group studied only rodents, while the DishBrain team tested cells from humans.
The researchers were able to teach the neurons to respond to an electrical signal that was a substitute for the ball. A player slides a paddle up and down the screen to intercept a ball. The paddle was controlled by the cells of the brain.
The authors were able to show the route of the ball by stimulating the brain cells. The paddle was moved up or down by the responses from the network.
The theory that neurons tend to repeat activity that yields a predictable environment was harnessed by the team. The neurons were stimulated when they responded in a way that was similar to hitting the ball. The network was stimulated if they missed the ball. The brain learns to hit the ball with a patterned response instead of a random one.
The work is an important step towards developing assays that could be used to test the effects of a new drug on the brain. He doesn't know if the neurons were responding to the signals they received or if they were acting as they were supposed to. The next step is a detailed explanation of what kind of stimuli can make a difference.
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Cortical Labs wants to use neurons to create biological processing units for use in computing. Potter says that the techniques developed for DishBrain could be used to compare differences in learning between different animals.
The decision to embody DishBrain activity as a game was a masterstroke according to him. Potter says that people interested in artificial intelligence are interested in anything that can play a board game. It was a great decision.
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