Super-intelligent robots may be a step closer to reality after the development of an artificial circuit that mimics the human brain.

For the first time, scientists managed to create a circuit of 100 artificial synapses able to perform a simple version of a typical human task: image classification.

The scientists claim their nano memory cell, which is 10,000 times thinner than the width of a human hair, is capable of storing and processing strands of information at the same time.

For the first time, scientists managed to create a circuit of 100 artificial synapses able to perform a simple version of a typical human task: image classification. Pictured is an artist's concept of a neural network

The nano memory cell copies the analogue nature of the human brain by keeping data stored in various states.

'It's a small, but important step,' said Dmitri Strukov, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Santa Barbara.

The circuitry may eventually be expanded and scaled to approach something like the human brain's, which has a quadrillion synaptic connections.

Imitating electronic aspects of the human brain could have implications for research into conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Scientists believe that if you could replicate a brain outside the body, it would minimise ethical issues involved in experimenting on the brain.

Seen here is an artificial synaptic circuit of the type used in the demonstration. The circuitry may eventually be expanded to approach something like the human brain's, which has a quadrillion synaptic connections

In the latest demonstration, the circuit with artificial neural network was able to successfully classify three letters; 'z', 'v' and 'n'.

WHAT IS A MEMRISTOR? The memristor was originally envisioned in 1971 by circuit theorist Leon Chua, but its existence was only confirmed in 2008. It is a fourth class of electronic circuitry, along with resistors, capacitors and inductors. Today, scientists believe the memristor could spell the end of electronics as we know it and the beginning of a new era called 'ionics'. Memristors are believe to behave in a similar way to the synapses of neurons within the human brain. The transistor, created in 1947, is the main component of computer chips. It works using a flow of electrons. The memristor, on the other hand, couples the electrons with ions, or electrically charged atoms. In a transistor, once the flow of electrons is interrupted by, all information is lost. But a memristor can remember the amount of charge that was flowing through it. This can help develop computers that will instantly turn on and off and never lose data. It may also someday lead to an artificial brain that can work better than a human one. Advertisement

It analysed the letter by their images, each letter stylised in different ways or saturated with 'noise' in a process similar to how we humans pick our friends out from a crowd.

'While the circuit was very small compared to practical networks, it is big enough to prove the concept of practicality,' said researchers Farnood Merrikh-Bayat.

'And, as more solutions to the technological challenges are proposed the technology will be able to make it to the market sooner,' researcher Gina Adam.

Key to this technology is the memristor - a combination of 'memory' and 'resistor'.

This is an electronic component whose resistance changes depending on the direction of the flow of the electrical charge.

Unlike conventional transistors, memristor work based on ionic movement, similar to the way human neural cells generate neural electrical signals.

'The memory state is stored as a specific concentration profile of defects that can be moved back and forth within the memristor,' said Strukov.

'Classical computers will always find an ineluctable limit to efficient brain-like computation in their very architecture,' said lead researcher Mirko Prezioso.

'This memristor-based technology relies on a completely different way inspired by biological brain to carry on computation.'

Potential applications already exist for this emerging technology, such as medical imaging, the improvement of navigation systems or even for searches based on images rather than on text.

Imitating electronic aspects of the human brain could have implications for research into conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Scientists believe that if you could replicate a brain outside the body, it would minimise ethical issues involved in experimenting on the brain

'The exciting thing is that, unlike more exotic solutions, it is not difficult to imagine this technology integrated into common processing units and giving a serious boost to future computers,' said Prezioso.

In the meantime, the researchers will continue to improve the performance of the memristors, scaling the complexity of circuits.

The next step would be to integrate a memristor neural network with conventional semiconductor technology.

This will enable more complex demonstrations and allow this early artificial brain to do more complicated and nuanced things.

Ideally, this brain would consist of trillions of these type of devices vertically integrated on top of each other.