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Artificial brains learn to adapt

Hippocampus cells

Silvia Ferrari and her team at Duke University are creating new control and navigation systems for aircraft, robots and other engineered systems that emulate the brain's ability to adapt movement based on changing environmental conditions. They are designing artificial brains, known as spiking neural networks, that incorporate characteristic details of biological brains. Hippocampal cells (pictured) are especially important for navigation.

Credit: Silvia Ferrari, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University


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Jeweled beetle

Silvia Ferrari and her team at Duke University trained a virtual insect whose nervous system is modeled by a large spiking neural network. The virtual insect was trained with an algorithm that responds to sensory feedback, such as vision, touch and sound. The virtual insect was able to adapt to changing conditions as it navigated the environment for virtual food.

Credit: Gary W. Meek, Georgia Tech


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Xu Zhang, Greg Foderaro, and Silvia Ferrari

Graduate student Xu Zhang, postdoc Greg Foderaro and Professor Silvia Ferrari (pictured left to right) at Duke University are translating the abilities of biological brains into computational capabilities to solve complex control and estimation problems.

Credit: Silvia Ferrari, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University


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