Brain Grown in Lab Flies Planes
Posted on December 15, 2005
Scientists have taught a "brain" grown in a lab to learn to fly an F-22 flight simulator. The brain consists of 25,000 neurons grown from one rat embryo. The Age has an article that explains how the "brain" works.
The 25,000 neurons were suspended in a specialised liquid to keep them alive and then laid across a grid of 60 electrodes in a small glass dish.A potential use of the "brain" would be to fly unmanned aircraft or to enhance regular computers but this is likely a ways off. The Age said the scientists work has attracted funding from the US National Science Foundation and the US National Institute of Health.Under the microscope they looked at first like grains of sand, but soon the cells begin to connect to form what scientists are calling a "live computation device" (a brain). The electrodes measure and stimulate neural activity in the network, allowing researchers to study how the brain processes, transforms and stores information.
In the most striking experiment, the brain was linked to the jet simulator. Manipulated by the electrodes and a desktop computer, it was taught to control the flight path, even in mock hurricane-strength winds.
"When we first hooked them up, the plane 'crashed' all the time," Dr DeMarse said. "But over time, the neural network slowly adapts as the brain learns to control the pitch and roll of the aircraft. After a while, it produces a nice straight and level trajectory."
