Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond
Published on: June 24, 2015
Bio-Inspired Design of Superconducting Spiking Neuron and Synapse
Andrey E Schegolev1, Nikolay V Klenov2,3, Georgy I Gubochkin2,4
1Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Abstract:
The imitative modelling of processes in the brain of living beings is an ambitious task. However, advances in the complexity of existing hardware brain models are limited by their low speed and high energy consumption. A superconducting circuit with Josephson junctions closely mimics the neuronal membrane with channels involved in the operation of the sodium-potassium pump. The dynamic processes in such a system are characterised by a duration of picoseconds and an energy level of attojoules. In this work, two superconducting models of a biological neuron are studied. New modes of their operation are identified, including the so-called bursting mode, which plays an important role in biological neural networks. The possibility of switching between different modes in situ is shown, providing the possibility of dynamic control of the system. A synaptic connection that mimics the short-term potentiation of a biological synapse is developed and demonstrated. Finally, the simplest two-neuron chain comprising the proposed bio-inspired components is simulated, and the prospects of superconducting hardware biosimilars are briefly discussed.
More Related Videos
10:32Design, Surface Treatment, Cellular Plating, and Culturing of Modular Neuronal Networks Composed of Functionally Inter-connected Circuits
Published on: April 15, 2015
05:19Using Neuron Spiking Activity to Trigger Closed-Loop Stimuli in Neurophysiological Experiments
Published on: November 12, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Neuronal Communication
Electrical Synapses
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
The Synapse
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential....
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...
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...