Researchers at Linköping University (LiU), Sweden, have created an artificial organic neuron that closely mimics the characteristics of biological nerve cells. This artificial neuron can stimulate natural nerves, making it a promising technology for various medical treatments in the future.

Work to develop increasingly functional artificial nerve cells continues at the Laboratory for Organic Electronics, LOE. In 2022, a team of scientists led by associate professor Simone Fabiano demonstrated how an artificial organic neuron could be integrated into a living carnivorous plant to control the opening and closing of its maw. This synthetic nerve cell met two of the 20 characteristics that differentiate it from a biological nerve cell.

In their latest study, published in the journal Nature Materials, the same researchers at LiU have developed a new artificial nerve cell called conductance-based organic electrochemical neuron, or c-OECN, which closely mimics 15 out of the 20 neural features that characterize biological nerve cells, making its functioning much more similar to natural nerve cells.