Playful neurons…

The brain is a formidable learning machine composed of about 86 billion neurons. But did you know that a simple group of neurons in culture also has this capacity? Let's see how a group of researchers taught neurons how to play Pong...

Indeed, a study published a few days ago reports the results of an amazing experiment called "DishBrain". Researchers placed 800,000 neurons grown from human and mouse stem cells on a chip with a large number of electrodes, allowing them to receive electrical impulses and to communicate with each other.
The arcade game Pong was launched from a computer connected to the chip. The goal of this game is to move a paddle to intercept the trajectory of a ball, as in classical ping-pong. The position of the paddle was indicated to the neurons via the chip, and they could move it via their electrical activity received by the chip. When the ball was correctly intercepted, a specific electrical signal was sent to the neurons to indicate that they succeeded and give them a form of "reward". The results were impressive: the neurons were able to learn to play this game in no less than 5 minutes!
The scientists are now continuing this work by studying the performance of neurons under the effect of alcohol or certain drugs at the cellular level. Indeed, we could even imagine one day to be able to predict patient reaction to a drug by cultivating neurons from their own skin stem cells...