The term
neuromorphic was coined by
Carver MeadProfessor Carver Andress Mead is a prominent U.S. computer scientist. He is the Gordon and Betty Moore professor emeritus at the California Institute of Technology , having taught there for over 40 years.Mead studied electrical engineering at Caltech, getting his B.S. in 1956, his M.S. in 1957,...
, in the late 1980s to describe
very-large-scale integrationVery-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device...
(VLSI) systems containing electronic analog circuits that mimic neuro-biological architectures present in the nervous system. In recent times the term
neuromorphic has been used to describe both analog, digital or mixed-mode analog/digital VLSI systems that implement models of neural systems (for
perceptionIn philosophy, psychology, and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. It is a task far more complex than was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was predicted that building perceiving machines would take about a decade,...
,
motor controlMotor control are information processing related activities carried out by the central nervous system that organize the musculoskeletal system to create coordinated movements and skilled actions...
, or sensory processing) as well as software algorithms.
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The term
neuromorphic was coined by
Carver MeadProfessor Carver Andress Mead is a prominent U.S. computer scientist. He is the Gordon and Betty Moore professor emeritus at the California Institute of Technology , having taught there for over 40 years.Mead studied electrical engineering at Caltech, getting his B.S. in 1956, his M.S. in 1957,...
, in the late 1980s to describe
very-large-scale integrationVery-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device...
(VLSI) systems containing electronic analog circuits that mimic neuro-biological architectures present in the nervous system. In recent times the term
neuromorphic has been used to describe both analog, digital or mixed-mode analog/digital VLSI systems that implement models of neural systems (for
perceptionIn philosophy, psychology, and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. It is a task far more complex than was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was predicted that building perceiving machines would take about a decade,...
,
motor controlMotor control are information processing related activities carried out by the central nervous system that organize the musculoskeletal system to create coordinated movements and skilled actions...
, or sensory processing) as well as software algorithms.
A key aspect of neuromorphic design is understanding how the
morphologyThe shape of an object located in some space is the part of that space occupied by the object, as determined by its external boundary – abstracting from other properties such as colour, content, and material composition, as well as from the object's other spatial properties The shape (from...
of individual neurons, circuits, and overall architectures create desirable computations, affect how information is represented, influences robustness to damage, incorporates learning and development, and facilitates evolutionary change.
Neuromorphic engineering is a new interdisciplinary discipline that takes inspiration from
biologyBiology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy...
,
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
,
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
,
computer scienceComputer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe and transform...
and
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
to design artificial neural systems, such as
vision systemVision system may refer to:* Visual system * artificial Vision Systems ....
s, head-eye systems, auditory processors, and autonomous robots, whose physical architecture and design principles are based on those of biological nervous systems.
See also
External links
- The yearly Neuromorphic Engineering Workshop brings together young investigators and more established researchers from academia with their counterparts in industry and national laboratories, working on both neurobiological as well as engineering aspects of sensory systems and sensory-motor integration.
- The Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering is an international institute "without walls" dedicated to the advancement of research and education in neuromorphic engineering.
- The official INE news site.
Below is a list of leading researchers in various areas of neuromorphic engineering, based on an article IEEE Spectrum (May, 2006):
Vision and Robotics
Hearing, Sonar, and Speech Processing
Neural Processing and Processing and Learning
Spike-Based Processing
Biomedical and Ultra-Low-Power Applications
(See
Leading Labs)
Other Links
- The Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering at the California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The Institute maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering, and operates and manages NASA's neighboring Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
.
- The Computation and Neural Systems department at the California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The Institute maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering, and operates and manages NASA's neighboring Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
.