Nizhni Novgorod Scientists Create a Neurochip for Replacing Damaged Areas of the Brain

Lobachevsky University researchers are working to create a neurochip capable of transmitting a signal to healthy brain cells. The neurochip can be used for replacing damaged parts of the brain. “Today, the scientists and engineers of the UNN Faculty of Radiophysics are close to creating an artificial neurochip that can be used in devices intended to replace damaged areas of the brain. They have been able to receive a signal sent from an artificial neuron to live brain cells. Now, UNN scientists set themselves an ambitious goal of creating within three years the world's first neural network of at least 100 artificial nerve cells”,  the University press service told the TASS agency. According to scientists, the next important stage in the development of the neurochip is to understand the mechanisms of substitution and transmission of signals between neurons. "After studying the nature of paralysis in humans, we know that all types of paralysis occur because our nervous system ceases to work correctly and signals cease to be transmitted. Artificial chips will help to restore the lost transmission", says Mikhail Mishchenko, research associate at the UNN Faculty of Radiophysics.

Another project of UNN researchers is aimed at creating an artificial nerve cell.  Experimental results show that the electrical oscillations in an artificial neuron are almost identical to the electrical oscillations that occur in the neurons of the brain. As soon as a neural network of artificial nerve cells is created, pre-clinical tests on laboratory animals will begin at Lobachevsky University. The tests should result in restoring electrical pulses in the damaged brain.