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.