• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, March 31, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

SUTD researchers develop ultra-scalable artificial synapse

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 23, 2021
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

A research team, led by Assistant Professor Desmond Loke from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), has developed a new type of artificial synapse based on two-dimensional (2D) materials for highly scalable brain-inspired computing.

Silent Synapse image

Credit: SUTD

A research team, led by Assistant Professor Desmond Loke from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), has developed a new type of artificial synapse based on two-dimensional (2D) materials for highly scalable brain-inspired computing.

 

Brain-inspired computing, which mimics how the human brain functions, has drawn significant scientific attention because of its uses in artificial intelligence functions and low energy consumption. For brain-inspired computing to work, synapses remembering the connections between two neurons are necessary, like human brains. In developing brains, synapses can be grouped into functional synapses and silent synapses. For functional synapses, the synapses are active, while for silent synapses, the synapses are inactive under normal conditions. And, when silent synapses are activated, they can help to optimize the connections between neurons. However, as artificial synapses built on digital circuits typically occupy large spaces, there are usually limitations in terms of hardware efficiency and costs. As the human brain contains about a hundred trillion synapses, it is necessary to improve the hardware cost in order to apply it to smart portable devices and internet-of things (IoTs).

 

To tackle this issue, the SUTD research team mimicked behaviors of functional and silent synapses using 2D materials. Additionally, this artificial synapse demonstrates for the first time that it can be implemented with the same device that functions as both functional and silent synapses.

 

Assistant Prof Loke mentioned that this work can dramatically reduce the hardware costs by replacing functional and silent synapses that were based on complex digital circuits with a single device. “We have demonstrated that functional and silent synapses can be implemented using a single device.”

 

“By integrating functional and silent synapses into the same device using ultrathin 2D materials, the hardware cost of artificial synapses will significantly decrease, which will drive the commercialization of brain-inspired hardware.” added Assistant Prof Loke.

           

From the viewpoint of neurobiology, silent synapses would not generate excitatory behavior when presynaptic neurons receive continuous stimuli because they contain N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, but they lack the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic-acid (AMPA) receptors. However, silent synapses can be activated to become functional synapses that respond to stimulations upon the insertion of AMPA receptors after consecutive stimulations. Inspired by the biological mechanism for silent synapse activation through the insertion of AMPA receptors, transformations from silent synapses to functional synapses in devices can be achieved by introducing sulphur anions in 2D indium selenide material systems. The sulphur anions in indium selenide can migrate under an electric field and exhibit functional synaptic plasticity. This device, based on a fully sulfurized type of system, show obvious memristive behavior at room temperature, which can be used to implement functional synapses. The activation of silent synapses can be demonstrated using a partially sulfurized type of system by modifying the temperature.  

 

This research was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. The research team include Song Hao, Khin Yin Pang, Nan Wang, Huimin Li, Yu Jiang, Kian-Guan Lim and Tow-Chong Chong from SUTD, and Shuai Zhong, Xinglong Ji and Rong Zhao from Tsinghua University.



Journal

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

DOI

10.1021/acsami.1c19062

Article Title

Activating Silent Synapses in Sulfurized Indium Selenide for Neuromorphic Computing

Article Publication Date

8-Dec-2021

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Flameless impingement oven

Cookin’ with gas: UWO professor earns patent for flameless industrial oven

March 31, 2023
Lamprey Swimming - Modeling Study

After spinal cord injury, kinesthetic sense helps restore movement, model suggests

March 31, 2023

Plastic transistor amplifies biochemical sensing signal

March 31, 2023

Study shows ketamine could be beneficial for treating brain injury in children

March 31, 2023

POPULAR NEWS

  • ChatPandaGPT

    Insilico Medicine brings AI-powered “ChatPandaGPT” to its target discovery platform

    68 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • Extinction of steam locomotives derails assumptions about biological evolution

    49 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 12
  • Northern and southern resident orcas hunt differently, which may help explain the decline of southern orcas

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • Skipping breakfast may compromise the immune system

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Cookin’ with gas: UWO professor earns patent for flameless industrial oven

After spinal cord injury, kinesthetic sense helps restore movement, model suggests

Plastic transistor amplifies biochemical sensing signal

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 48 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In