IBM Dreams Clone of Human Brain

 

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/08/ibm-modha-brain-language/?mbid=social10647814

“In the short term, Modha’s project won’t change anything. It’s more ambitious than that. After striving to clone the brain using everyday computer chips and good old fashioned C programming code, the team is now building a new type of chip — as well as a new programming language — that more closely resembles the brain. Or at least the brain as we know it. They’re breaking with 70 years of tradition to rethink the way we design computers.

Known as a “neurosynaptic core,” their new chip includes hardware that mimic neurons and synapses — the basic building blocks of our nervous system and the connections between them. And in recreating the basics of the brain, Modha says, the chip eschews traditional methods of computer design. “This tiny little neurosynaptic core really breaks from the von Newmann architecture,” Modha says. “It integrates processor and memory and communication.” The idea is that you could then piece multiple cores together — creating ever larger systems, spanning an ever larger number of fake neurons and synapses.”