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Brain Cells Play Doom in Lab Breakthrough
17 Mar
Summary
- 200,000 human brain cells learned to play Doom.
- Digital signals from Doom are converted to neuron stimulation.
- The CL1 machine integrates living cells with computing.
An Australian startup, Cortical Labs, has achieved a significant breakthrough by teaching human brain cells in a petri dish to play the video game Doom. This pioneering effort involves approximately 200,000 neurons, which have been trained to interact with the game's environment. The system translates Doom's digital signals into electrical stimulation patterns, effectively communicating with the neurons in their biological language.
The CL1 machine developed by Cortical Labs facilitates this integration, allowing living cells to be controlled through simple Python commands. This advancement opens new avenues for biological computing, enabling real-time interaction and shaping cellular behavior. The project's lead even contributed his own brain cells, emphasizing the direct biological component of the experiment.
While the achievement is impressive, researchers emphasize that the cells are not considered conscious or sentient. Instead, their learning process is seen as a controlled adaptation to stimuli. The potential applications of this technology extend beyond gaming, with significant implications for medical research, such as testing experimental drugs on laboratory-grown neurons, and even for enhancing human learning capabilities.
