Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 22, 2025

Intraventricular Transplantation of Engineered Neuronal Precursors for In Vivo Neuroarchitecture Studies
Published on: May 11, 2019
Perovskite neural trees
Hai-Tian Zhang1,2, Tae Joon Park3, Ivan A Zaluzhnyy4
1School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. htzhang@purdue.edu.
Abstract:
Trees are used by animals, humans and machines to classify information and make decisions. Natural tree structures displayed by synapses of the brain involves potentiation and depression capable of branching and is essential for survival and learning. Demonstration of such features in synthetic matter is challenging due to the need to host a complex energy landscape capable of learning, memory and electrical interrogation. We report experimental realization of tree-like conductance states at room temperature in strongly correlated perovskite nickelates by modulating proton distribution under high speed electric pulses. This demonstration represents physical realization of ultrametric trees, a concept from number theory applied to the study of spin glasses in physics that inspired early neural network theory dating almost forty years ago. We apply the tree-like memory features in spiking neural networks to demonstrate high fidelity object recognition, and in future can open new directions for neuromorphic computing and artificial intelligence.
Related Concept Videos
Neural Circuits
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
Neuron Structure
Structure and Function of Neurons
The neuronal cell body—the soma— houses the nucleus and organelles vital to...
Neuron Structure
Propagation of Action Potentials
Neurons (nerve cells) have a resting membrane potential, with a slightly negative charge inside compared to outside. This is maintained by ion channels, such as sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) channels, which control the flow of ions. When a stimulus, like a touch or a signal from another neuron, triggers the neuron, sodium channels open, allowing sodium ions to...
Phylogenetic Trees
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

