Scientists at Harvard University have created the first artificial synapses between nanoelectronic devices and individual mammalian neurons, and the first linking of a solid-state device — a nanowire transistor — to the neuronal projections that interconnect and carry information in the brain.

They used silicon nanowires just tens of nanometers in width to detect, stimulate, and inhibit nerve signals along the axons and dendrites of live mammalian neurons, with a spatial resolution unmatched by existing techniques.

They were able to measure and manipulate electrical conductance at as many as 50 locations along a single axon. The devices could also eventually be configured to measure or detect neurotransmitters.

According to Harvard chemist Charles M. Lieber, “It provides a new paradigm for building sophisticated interfaces between the brain and external neural prosthetics; it represents a new, powerful, and flexible approach for real-time cellular assays useful for drug discovery and other applications; and it opens the possibility for hybrid circuits that couple the strengths of digital nanoelectronic and biological computing components.”

Comment: this appears to be a significant advance in reverse-engineering the brain. – Ed.