Recreating oscillatory behavior in artificial nerve cells

In this study, the phenomenon of cyclic inhibition between two artificial nerve cells has been recreated. Implemented by means of postinhibitory rebound, it was achieved in a mutually inhibiting pair of identical nerve cell circuits, or Neuromimes. Each Neuromime is nominally self-excitatory, with a single inhibitory input, derived from the output of its counterpart. Postinhibitory rebound is accomplished by dynamically varying the synaptic weight of that inhibitory input. The Neuromime employed is a comprehensive VLSI-based circuit with a host of features attributable to biological nerve cells. It was fabricated in two-micron CMOS technology with a total chip area of 0.6 square millimeters, and requires only a few passive discrete components for support and adjustment. The circuit was designed as a prelude to the VLSI implementation of a biologically-based neuronal oscillator.