The efforts in the direction of replicating the human brain have come closer than ever before --- with technology firm IBM having created a computing chip that can imitate the functions of the brain; thereby giving the computers the ability to "learn" and make decision.

Going by the details shared by IBM, the new 'brain chips' - called the SyNAPSE processor - will essentially simulate the spiking neurons and synapses of the brain, thus enabling the simultaneous occurrence of several functions. Similar to the working of the biological synapses, an encounter with any new information leads to the "rewiring" of the microprocessor's connections.

According to IBM, the programming of the 'brain chips' will be different from that of conventional computer chips, chiefly in the sense that the new chips will boast the capability to "find correlations, create hypotheses, and remember - and learn from - the outcomes."

Noting that IBM researchers were trying to recreate aspects of the mind like emotion, perception, sensation and cognition by "reverse engineering the brain," Dharmendra Modha - leader of the SyNAPSE project - revealed that the SyNAPSE processor makes use of two prototype "neurosynaptic computing chips", both having 256 computational cores.

Further adding that while one chip has 262,144 programmable synapses, the other includes 65,536 learning synapses, Modha said: "These chips are another significant step in the evolution of computers from calculators to learning systems, signalling the beginning of a new generation of computers and their applications in business, science and government."