Today's story is the product of a unique fusion of man and machine. Well, rat and machine actually, but it's still makes an interesting tale nonetheless. Scientists from the University of Reading were able integrate a suspension of rat brain cells inside a robot in an effort to study the learning process of neurons.

Around 300,000 rat neurons are being used to help a robot navigate through its surroundings via the use of sonar. Through the study, scientists hope to observe how memories are laid down and perhaps provide some insight into diseases such as Alzheimer's.

The brain cells have been carefully isolated in a temperature-controlled cabinet and pitted in a container filled with electrodes. Signals from the electrodes are then picked up and passed to from the robot via Bluetooth short-range radio. Once the robot has learned to navigate and recognize its surroundings, scientists plan on disrupting these memories to help recreate the effects of mental diseases.

According to Dr. Ben Whalley, a neuroscientist at the University of Reading mentions that the study will give researchers a unique look at "something that may exhibit whole behaviours but still remains closely tied to the activity of individual neurons". This may eventually lead to other studies explaining how neural tissue is degraded or how it can cope with disruption from diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

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