Optical micrograph image of the nanowire network from the study.

The neuromorphic network was created by self-assembled nanowires that form numerous contacts between adjacent nanowires, with each contact exhibiting a synaptic-like response to electrical stimulation. A synapse is a junction between nerve cells.

Nanowires are measured in nanometres, which are a billionth of a metre in size. The nanowires used were made of a silver and polymer composite material. The average diameter of the nanowires used was 360 nanometres, or 0.00000036 metres wide. A human hair is about 100,000 nanometres wide.

The synthetic synapses used collectively regulated the overall functionality of the entire network. The research team investigated the process of electrical signal transmission across preferred paths in the complex network by time-resolved electrical resistance measurements.

This revealed continuous fluctuations that enable electrical signals to exploit multiple transport pathways across the network and spontaneously adapt to changing transmission routes. This process leads to emergent network properties related to learning, memorisation and forgetting of input signals.

Based on this discovery, the research team is now developing next-generation memory devices and neuromorphic information processing systems using nanowire networks. While current AI technology is based on an assumed model of brain-type information processing, this research provides a glimpse into what brain-type information processing actually is. The team hopes that the outcomes of this research will lead to new data processing capabilities beyond the reach of AI.

At Sydney Nano, Professor Kuncic is working with colleagues on aGrand Challenge projectto unlock the neural interface. Along withProfessor Gregg Suaningin theSchool of Biomedical Engineering, the multidisciplinary team is looking to unlock the neural code through the convergence of neural biology and electrical stimulation with nanotechnology.

The aim of the project is to harness the combined capacity of neural biology, electrical stimulation and nanotechnology to transform and restore neurons from a state of disease or dysfunction to a state of robust performance indistinguishable from normal function.

The research was funded by the International Centre for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan.

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Nanoscale neural network developed with Japan and US researchers - News - The University of Sydney