Neurorobot using deppression of neuronal activity evoked by continuous stimulation

Abstract

For elucidation of information processing in the brain, it is useful that a living neuronal circuit simpler than the neuronal network in a whole brain. Neurorobot is a fundamental model system of a small brain in which a neuronal circuit is modified by interaction between neurons and outer environment. In this study, a living neuronal network was divided into right- and left-labeled electrodes sets, and we developed the system in which a moving-robot performed an obstacle-avoidance-behavior according to the number of spikes in spontaneous activity after the electrical stimulation to the right- and left-labelled electrodes sets. Characteristics of slow change in the number of electriacal spikes evoked by continuous stimulation were analysed. As a result, the robot was able to avoid the first obstacles, and accompanied continuous stimulation depressed the spontaneous activity, and then the dynamic changes of the activity drastically influenced on the robot behavior. Thus, then the obstacle avoidance of the robot changed to be failure after the first obstacles, suggesting that a cultured neuronal network is enough fixible to modulated by neuronal activity, and that hysteresis should be taken into consideration for the controlof the neurorobot.