Joining Microelectronics and Microionics: Nerve Cells and Brain Tissue on Semiconductor Chips

We assemble simple hybrid devices of nerve cells and semiconductor chips and study the basic physical chemistry of interfacing. By enhancing the complexity of the hybrids step by step, we look how far we come in the implementation of novel functions. Another aspect of the approach is that it may help to solve the first problem, i.e. to understand the brain, by developing novel neurophysiological techniques.