Synapse elements to realize brain-type computer appearance, forgetful and growing from experience

Although the processing capacity has dramatically improved and the performance is getting higher, it is not realized yet that "doing the work like a human brain" by any means.

However, a "synapse element" has been developed that realizes a brain-like computer capable of remembering like a human being and forgetting unnecessary information.

New brain-shaped elements that memorize and forget like human beings - Press Release | NIMS


According to a press release of the National Institute for Materials Science and Technology and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the Research Group of Masakazu Aono, Director General of the International Nanoarchitectonics Research Center, National Institute for Materials Science, In collaboration with Professor J. Jimsewski of the University of California, Los Angeles in the USA, we have autonomously created two phenomena, "memory of necessary information" and "oblivion of unnecessary information", which are features of brain neural activity autonomously It seems that we succeeded in developing the "synapse element" to reproduce for the first time in the world.

The current computer system is said to be approaching the limits of high performance, and development of brain type circuits and brain type computers is considered necessary for further improvement of the performance, but the "synapse element" developed this time is a human It corresponds to one neuron in each brain.

The human brain memorizes more reliably as the input frequency of information is higher by synapses, and on the contrary if the input frequency is low, only the ambiguous memory is formed and forgotten, but the "synaptic element" By adjusting the bond strength of this, this work is reproduced.

Image recording using "synapse element". When I waited for a while after inputting the character "1" with the input interval of 2 seconds and the character "2" of 20 seconds 10 times, "1" which was long-term memory kept displayed, but it became short-term memory "2" has disappeared.


Conventional artificial synapses are realized by complicated circuits and software and can only operate as designed in advance, but since "synapse elements" can perform various operations without prior operation design, It is expected to contribute greatly to the construction of artificial intelligence that will become smarter by experience as if it were human like in the future.