Technological advances now allow what we see in science fiction works in many different fields to become real. Now, a study published in the academic journal Neuron reveals that scientists at an Australian-based company have developed artificial brain cells.
According to the BBC’s report, researchers at the company called Cortical Labs developed brain cells in a laboratory environment. Moreover, it was reported that these cells have a very interesting ability. According to experts, this ‘mini brain’ can play games.
Artificial brain cells learned to play the popular 1970s game Pong
Scientists said that 800,000 artificial brain cells, called ‘mini-brains’, can sense and react to their environment and play the tennis-like Pong game that debuted in the 1970s. One of the researchers, Dr. Brett Kagan also claimed to have succeeded in creating a ‘sensitive’ brain for the first time in the laboratory. Other experts, on the other hand, described the study as ‘exciting’ and said that it is a bit too much to define ‘sensitive’ for now.
“We couldn’t find a better term to describe the device,” said Kagan. It can receive information from an external source, process it and respond in real time.” It was reported that mini-brains were first produced in 2013 to study the genetic disease microcephaly, in which the brain is small, and has been used in brain development research since then. The new study also enabled cells to communicate with an external environment for the first time, in this case a video game.
For the experiment, the researchers collected mouse cells from embryonic brains and some human brain cells derived from stem cells. Cells were connected to the game via electrodes that showed which side the ball was on in the game of Pong and how far it was from what served as the racket. One of the oldest arcade games, Pong is a table tennis game that requires the ball to be held within the playing field.
After this, it was observed that the cells produced their own electrical activity. The feedback from the electrodes made the cells act like racquets and taught them how to bounce the ball back. Experts stated that the mini-brain learns to play in five minutes. In addition, they often miss the ball; but it was also added that the success rate is higher than random chance. The researchers also noted that these unconscious cells cannot play the game the way a human does.
Could be used to test treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s
Dr. Kagan says the exciting technology could be used to test treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Emphasizing the need for more studies, the researcher said that he plans to test the effects of alcohol on the mini-brain’s ability to play Pong later on. Thus, it will be seen whether the human brain responds in a similar way. This will reveal how effective the system is for use in experiments.
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