Science
Related: About this forum- Swedish Scientists Build Artificial Neurons Able to Communicate With Organic Neurons
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have built a fully functional neuron by using organic bioelectronics. This artificial neuron contain no "living" parts, but is capable of mimicking the function of a human nerve cell and communicate in the same way as our own neurons do.
Neurons communicate with chemical signals called neurotransmitters. Incoming chemical signals are converted to electrical signals that travel along the neuron and eventually converted back to chemical signals and sent to other neurons. To date, the main medical technique used for neuronal stimulation is based on electrical stimulation. However, the new bioelectronic device developed by the Karolinska researchers is capable of receiving chemical signals, which it can then relay to organic neurons
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The Fundamental Chemical-to-Electrical-to-Chemical Signal Transduction Function of Organic Neurons is Achieved by the Artificial Neuron
Our artificial neuron is made of conductive polymers says lead investigator Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, professor of cellular microbiology. "The sensing component of the artificial neuron senses a change in chemical signals in one dish, and translates this into an electrical signal. This electrical signal is next translated into the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in a second dish, whose effect on living human cells can be monitored."
Richter-Dahlfors and her team, in collaboration with collegues at Linköping University, have published the results of their research in an article titled "An organic electronic biomimetic neuron enables auto-regulated neuromodulation" on Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
https://hacked.com/swedish-scientists-build-artificial-neurons-able-communicate-organic-neurons/
Holy crap, singularity,mind uploading immortality and what else does this imply?
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)philosophy of consciousness that I'll credit to David Chalmers but he may have not originated it, that supposed that there exists artificial neurons. A human starts replacing neurons in her brain with artificial ones. We all agree that at the start of this process she has "consciousness". Many people would disagree that a system composed entirely of artificial neurons has "consciousness". At what point in her replacement process of swapping out natural for artificial neurons would she lose the essential quality that is required for consciousness? When the last natural neuron is replaced what is the difference between her mind and one built from the start entirely of artificial neurons?
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)The Singularity Is Near where this idea is discussed by him and other leading scientists and futurists. Kurzwell's date for this is 2029
Ray Kurzweil is one of the worlds leading inventors, thinkers, and futurists, with a thirty-year track record of accurate predictions.
http://www.kurzweiltech.com/aboutray.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil#The_Law_of_Accelerating_Returns
the singularity is near film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049412/?ref_=nm_knf_i2
Youtube lectures
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhhG-wyw7nm-dStwVYzXL7gjkly_qT8_m
qazplm
(3,626 posts)this is going to happen.
It will start small...folks will not replace neurons so much as add additional ones, or specialized ones.
I can see it possibly as a cure for Alzheimers...add additional neurons to take up the slack for ones that are degraded.
But eventually, neuron replacement will happen.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have managed to build a fully functional neuron by using organic bioelectronics. This artificial neuron contain no living parts, but is capable of mimicking the function of a human nerve cell and communicate in the same way as our own neurons do.
much, much more from the scientists themselves
http://ki.se/en/artifical-neuron-mimicks-function-of-human-cells
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Fascinating.