CAREER: Neuromorphic Computation in Silico

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

0093851 Boahen This project will advance the core of a new emerging area of crossdisciplinary research called neuromorphic engineering, originally pioneered by Carver Mead of CalTech. Neuromorphic engineering builds a new bridge between neuroscience and the development of new microchips which try to replicate the capabilities of the hardware of the brain; it also attempts to improve our understanding both of information processing and of hardware issues (like energy dissipation, precision, and nanoscale operation) in the brain itself. Neuromorphic engineering is still at a very early stage, but it has the potential for revolutionary benefits both to engineering and to neuroscience sometime in the future. This project will focus particularly on reverse-engineering the higher visual system of the brain, using hardware capable of emulating spiking neurons in the brain, and addressing issues such as attention or awareness and consciousness. It will also include substantial work in developing the new educational base required to allow serious progress in this kind of crossdisciplinary work.