Seminar: Brain-Inspired Computing

Abstract: 

The average human brain consists of about 100 billion neurons connected by around a thousand trillion synapses – it is the most powerful computer known and yet only consumes about 25 Watts of power. It has been estimated that a transistor-based supercomputer consisting of thousands of trillions of transistors would need a nuclear power station to run to perform the tasks of one human brain. Transistors are very energy inefficient. Professor Lynch has invented a way to perform conventional computing using brain dynamics. The research is highly interdisciplinary, and the invention has potential applications in two scientific fields: 

1. In Computing, it could lead to the building of the world’s most powerful and low-power supercomputer - Stephen will be disclosing some recent exciting developments with Josephson junctions and memristors, potential replacements for transistors.
2. In Medicine and in collaborative work with Paul Roach and Eric Hill (Biomaterials and Interface Science, LOUGHBOROUGH), it could provide an assay (test circuit) for cell degradation to help with drug testing for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Epilepsy.