A groundbreaking electronic longterm memory cell could help researchers imitate and better understand the complexities of the human brain.

Built by scientists at the MicroNano Research Facility at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the nano memory cell — 10,000 times thinner than a human hair — mimics longterm human memory and the brain's capacity for storing and processing strands of information.

Hussein Nili, lead author of the study, told Mashable Australia the cell is a significant advancement. Currently, only a single digit can be stored in most electronic memory cells — either a one or zero. "The kind of memory we have designed ... allows you to store in a single memory cell, not just one number, but a large range of numbers," he said.

This means RMIT's nano memory cell can process information in realtime, mimicking the way a brain computes information. "If you compare a normal memory cell that we have today to a light switch that you can only turn on and off," he suggested, "this is more like a dimmer."

Conventional digital storage, such as a USB, records data in a binary sequence of zeroes and ones, the nano memory cell can store information in multiple states because it is analogue. Image: RMIT

Published in the Advanced Functional Materials journal, the breakthrough could also have implications for human health. For example, the cell could help researchers create a bionic brain outside the human body to help fight against neurological disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Nili suggested.

"In terms of those diseases, there are two problems: it is very hard to read what is going on inside a live brain, and the ethical aspect — you cannot experiment on live subjects without repercussions," he said. "If you can have a bionic brain and you can replicate those kinds of [diseased] brains ... it will make research much easier and accessible."

The cell could also have significant implications for robotics, Nili suggested. Currently, a computer has to turn information into digits to process it, while the human brain does such analysis instantly. If such a capability could be planted into an artificial neurological network, advanced artificial intelligence with almost humanlike interactions may not be too far away.

Take gyroscopic movement, he added, the way humans keep upright while walking with only their brain and a few joints. "If we can get that kind of information processing, then we will be able to advance robotics to fascinating new horizons."