University of Texas researchers develop brainlike transistors

University of Texas researchers have developed new biocompatible transistors that mimic brain synapses, an advancement that could help scientists rebuild neural pathways or create brain implants. Though the transistors are not ready for use in humans, the team hopes to use them to create brainlike computers that can work alongside the human brain, said Jean Anne Incorvia, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UT. "There's a big goal in our field of building brain-inspired computers," Incorvia said. "We can imagine that it could seamlessly work alongside a human brain so the human brain is doing processing, and then at some point, it's connected to these (synaptic transistors), which then start doing neuromorphic computer processing with it. So we have this brain-machine combination for doing tasks." The transistors transfer signals in the same way synapses transfer impulses between neurons, co-author Dmitry Kireev said.