US scientists use electric currents to control memory in brain-inspired device

Researchers at UC San Diego demonstrated that electrical pulses can control switching in a vanadium dioxide neuristor: currents above a threshold make its behavior more predictable, while weaker stimulation reverses the effect. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

• The vanadium dioxide neuristor mimics electrical switching of biological neurons
• Coherent X-ray diffraction tracked nanoscale changes inside the material
• Lower-current stimulation reverses the effect and restores less predictable switching
• The mechanism was shown in an experimental material, not a complete processor