Rise of the rat-brained robots

August 14, 2008 | Source: New Scientist Tech

Researchers at the University of Reading, Georgia Tech, and elsewhere are experimenting with “animats” created by culturing rat neurons in a vat and plugging them into simulations and robots.

By stimulating the neurons with signals from sensors on the robot and using the neurons’ response to get the robots to respond, they hope to gain insights into how brains function. Such insights might help in the treatment of conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.


A collection of 300,000 rat neurons stops this robot from bumping into things (Reading University)