Interfacing Neuronal Cultures to a Computer Generated Virtual World
6th Joint Symposium on Neural Computation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2000. [GScholar]
Current studies of learning typically focus on either the biological aspects of learning or on behavioral measures. The goal of the Animat project is to bridge the gap between these two areas by developing a system in which the biology can behave in a virtual world. Using multi-electrode array technology (MEAs), rat cortical neurons cultures on an MEA have been given a simulated body which together form a neurally controlled Animat that can move or “behave” in a virtual environment created by a computer. The computer then acts as the Animat’s senses, providing feedback in the form of electrical stimulation about the effects of interactions between the Animat’s movements and the virtual world (e.g., navigating around a barrier). Because MEAs offer the possibility of the detailed study of neurons in culture, any changes in the Animat’s behavior resulting from experience in the virtual environment can be studied in concert with the biological processes (e.g., neural plasticity) responsible for those changes.