Alon Loeffler is a Postdoctoral Scientist at Cortical Labs in Melbourne. Cortical Labs are a biological computing startup putting live neurons into chips to revolutionise computing.
This in part means the ability to teach real human brain cells to do things, outside the person’s body. The company works with real neurons, studying their electrical activity and even teaching them to play Pong (you read that right!).
Entering the field of neuroscience came after a significant turning point in Alon’s life at the age of 16. He developed an autoimmune disease called Transverse Myelitis, which left him paralysed in his hands and legs. Despite the challenges of dealing with recovery and rehabilitation as a teenager, it shifted his priorities from parties to taking care of his health and understanding why this happened.
His first project in this field led him to pursue a PhD in nanotechnology at the University of Sydney. He worked on neuromorphic materials that mimic the behaviour of real neurons. This application can be used to process dynamic, noisy and real-time data that AI can't deal with currently.
Alon’s work at the company involves data science, algorithm development and software development - a role he describes as his dream job: “It’s fascinating work with huge potential, like testing neurological diseases and possibly replacing animal testing.”
In this episode, we chat about:
What is a synthetic biological intelligence postdoctoral scientist?
What are neurons?
Neurodegenerative diseases
Electrophysiological reward and punishment
What is Cortical Labs?
What is synthetic biological intelligence?
Why are humans so much smarter than AI with less data points?
The function of neurons
Consciousness
Neuromorphics
Autoimmune diseases
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Find Cortical Labs on LinkedIn or visit their website
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