Neuromorphic tissues: Soft biomolecular networks for brain-inspired temporal computing.

Abstract

Brains achieve extraordinary efficiency in processing temporal information through dense interconnectivity and recurrent feedback among neurons. Inspired by this principle, we introduce neuromorphic tissues-soft biomolecular networks comprising cell-sized aqueous compartments interconnected by lipid membranes containing voltage-gated ion channels. When a compartment is electrically stimulated by current injection, the membranes separating it from neighboring compartments polarize until channel activation occurs, transiently transforming the interface into a conductive synapse that couples adjacent nodes. These dynamics generate intrinsic physical recurrence, enabling the network to encode, propagate, and reconstruct time-dependent signals without external feedback circuitry. Experiments and modeling demonstrate nonlinear, fading-memory, and recurrent dynamics characteristic of reservoir computing, enabling accurate prediction of nonlinear and chaotic sequences such as NARMA-10 and the Lorenz attractor. This work suggests that spatial interconnectivity can enhance the computational capabilities of physical reservoirs and highlights soft, self-assembled materials as a promising platform for implementing such interconnected systems.