How to build a brain
To make Gordon's 'brain', scientists removed brain cells from rat embryos and grew them in a dish. Bathed in a warm nutrient solution, the cells, also known as neurons, form connections with each other.
'We keep Gordon's neurons in an incubator at body temperature,' says creator Kevin Warwick, robot expert at the University of Reading. 'We feed them every few days with a fresh nutrient and mineral solution - similar to the kind of thing athletes drink.'
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Placed in a dish, the rats' neurons can live for up to three months, but their responses start to slow as they age.
Image: Sergey A. Pristyazhnyuk/Fotolia.com |
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