2010/02/23 by Patrick Crotty, Daniel Schult, Ken Segall · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #cond-mat.supr-con #cond-mat.dis-nn #physics.bio-ph #q-bio.NC
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.82.011914
10 Pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Physical Review E
arxiv created 2010/02/23 · arxiv updated 2013/05/29
With the goal of understanding the intricate behavior and dynamics of collections of neurons, we present superconducting circuits containing Josephson junctions that model biologically realistic neurons. These "Josephson junction neurons" reproduce many characteristic behaviors of biological neurons such as action potentials, refractory periods, and firing thresholds. They can be coupled together in ways that mimic electrical and chemical synapses. Using existing fabrication technologies, large interconnected networks of Josephson junction neurons would operate fully in parallel. They would be orders of magnitude faster than both traditional computer simulations and biological neural networks. Josephson junction neurons provide a new tool for exploring long-term large-scale dynamics for networks of neurons.