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Reliable neuronal logic devices from patterned hippocampal cultures

Nature Physics volume 4, pages 967–973 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Functional logical microcircuits are an essential building block of computation in the brain. However, single neuronal connections are unreliable, and it is unclear how neuronal ensembles can be constructed to achieve high response fidelity. Here, we show that reliable, mesoscale logical devices can be created in vitro by geometrical design of neural cultures. We control the connections and activity by assembling living neural networks on quasi-one-dimensional configurations. The linear geometry yields reliable transmission lines. Incorporating thin lines creates ‘threshold’ devices and logical ‘AND gates’. Breaking the symmetry of transmission makes neuronal ‘diodes’. All of these function with error rates well below that of a single connection. The von Neumann model of redundancy and error correction accounts well for all of the devices, giving a quantitative estimate for the reliability of a neuronal connection and of threshold devices. These neuronal devices may contribute to the implementation of computation in vitro and, ultimately, to its understanding in vivo.

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Figure 1: Patterning neuronal cultures.
Figure 2: Function of the neuronal devices.
Figure 3: Internal structure of neuronal devices.
Figure 4: Error-correction model based on redundancy.
Figure 5: Complex devices.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Segal, T. Tlusty, J.-P. Eckmann and S. Jacobi for stimulating discussions and V. Greenberger, J. Soriano and N. Ben-Sinai for their support. We acknowledge partial support by the Clore Center for Biological Physics, the Minerva Stiftung, Munich, Germany, by the Paedagogica Foundation and by the Israel Science Foundation under grant number 993/05.

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Author notes

  1. Ofer Feinerman and Assaf Rotem: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Computational Biology Center, New York 10065, USA

    Ofer Feinerman

  2. Weizmann Institute of Science, Physics of Complex Systems, Rehovot, 76100, PO Box 26, Israel

    Assaf Rotem & Elisha Moses

Authors
  1. Ofer Feinerman
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  2. Assaf Rotem
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  3. Elisha Moses
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Correspondence to Assaf Rotem.

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Feinerman, O., Rotem, A. & Moses, E. Reliable neuronal logic devices from patterned hippocampal cultures. Nature Phys 4, 967–973 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1099

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