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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Mechanical Manipulation of Neurons to Control Axonal Development
Published on: April 10, 2011
Analog control with two Artificial Axons
Hector G Vasquez1, Giovanni Zocchi
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America.
Abstract:
The artificial axon is a recently introduced synthetic assembly of supported lipid bilayers and voltage gated ion channels, displaying the basic electrophysiology of nerve cells. Here we demonstrate the use of two artificial axons as control elements to achieve a simple task. Namely, we steer a remote control car towards a light source, using the sensory input dependent firing rate of the axons as the control signal for turning left or right. We present the result in the form of the analysis of a movie of the car approaching the light source. In general terms, with this work we pursue a constructivist approach to exploring the nexus between machine language at the nerve cell level and behavior.
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