Scientists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and Xijiang University in South Korea have constructed a new type of artificial synapse. Different from the traditional artificial synapses based on solid materials, the new synapses are based on the medium water and salt in the human brain. This study proves for the first time that the same medium system as the human brain can process complex information. Relevant papers were published in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In order to improve the energy efficiency of traditional computers, scientists have been seeking inspiration from the human brain and imitating the extraordinary ability of the human brain in various ways. These attempts have promoted the development of brain like computers. However, the human brain uses water and dissolved salt ions as a medium to work, and most brain inspired computers rely on traditional solid materials.

Synapses are the components of channels in the brain responsible for transmitting signals between neurons. The size of the artificial synapse is 150 μ m × 200 μ m, which is called ion electronic memristor. It includes a conical microchannel filled with water and salt ions, and can simulate synaptic behavior.

The research team said that after receiving the electric pulse, the ions in the solution migrated through the channel, leading to the change of ion concentration. The change of pulse intensity will lead to the change of channel conductivity, reflecting the strengthening or weakening of connections between neurons. The degree of conductivity change can be expressed as the input signal, and the channel length affects the time required for concentration change. This suggests that it may be possible to retain and process information at different times by adjusting the channel length, which is also similar to the synaptic mechanism observed in the human brain.

Tim Kamsama of Utrecht University, one of the research leaders, pointed out that the artificial synapses that can process complex information before were all based on solid materials. Their research showed for the first time that information processing can also be achieved with water and salt. The new artificial synapse can not only imitate the communication mode of the human brain, but also use the same medium, laying the foundation for creating a computing system that can more realistically reproduce the extraordinary capabilities of the human brain.