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Brains Cells Play Video Game
작성자  : 관리자

Introduced in the 1970s, Pong is one of the first video games to ever be made. The rules for the classic game are so simple that scientists were recently able to teach a group of brain cells how to play it.

The researchers belong to Cortical Labs, a biological computing center based in Melbourne, Australia. For their unusual experiment, they grew the brain cells of mice and humans together. From these cells, they created a network of 800,000 neurons that functions like a mini brain and named their creation DishBrain.

The cells of DishBrain were grown on a microelectrode array,* a special device that stimulates the neurons using electricity. The researchers wanted to see if they could train the group of neurons to work together to accomplish a task. To test their idea, they decided to use the game of Pong.

Pong is a simple digital tennis game featuring two paddles and a ball. The goal is to move your paddle up and down and hit the ball past your opponent’s paddle.

Using the electrodes, the researchers created a virtual Pong court, and then, they used electrical signals to tell DishBrain where the ball was and how fast it was moving. Feedback from the electrodes was used to teach the neurons how to move the paddle.

Lastly, the scientists had to devise a reward system to motivate their creation. So, they relied on a theory called the “free energy principle.” According to this theory, cells hate randomness and will do whatever they can to reduce unpredictability in their environment.

Using this knowledge, the scientists hit the cells with unpredictable electrical signals whenever they missed the ball. When the cells hit the ball correctly, the scientists applied a predictable electric current as a reward.

Incredibly, the neurons of DishBrain learned to work together to maintain the predictable signals and win at Pong.

* microelectrode array 다중전극 어레이 (신경세포를 자극하고 그것이 내는 전기 신호를 측정하는 장치)