Simulated brain displays “human” quirks

Science News : Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network (Spaun) is a computer simulation of very basic brain activities. It uses a vision system to “see” typed or written characters, makes a decision based on inputs, and issues directions on how to respond. The team of researchers led by Chris Eliasmith of the University of Waterloo in Canada that built Spaun presented it with a series of challenges ranging from pattern matching tests to memorizing lists of numbers to gambling. As Spaun went through the test, the researchers noticed behavior that was similar to that of human volunteers who took the same test. In particular, both Spaun and the humans more easily remembered the first and last numbers in lists and take longer to count to higher numbers. It is still too early to know if Spaun will provide any insight into human cognition, and because the design is so simplified, it may be missing important aspects of brain functionality. However, Eliasmith believes that his team’s discovery is an important step in brain simulations.