Multi-level memory-switching properties of a single brain microtubule

Satyajit  Sahu; Subrata  Ghosh; Kazuto  Hirata; Daisuke  Fujita; Anirban  Bandyopadhyay

doi:10.1063/1.4793995

Abstract

We demonstrate that a single brain-neuron-extracted microtubule is a memory-switching element, whose hysteresis loss is nearly zero. Our study shows how a memory-state forms in the nanowire and how its protein arrangement symmetry is related to the conducting-state written in the device, thus, enabling it to store and process ∼500 distinct bits, with 2 pA resolution between 1 nA and 1 pA. Its random access memory is an analogue of flash memory switch used in a computer chip. Using scanning tunneling microscope imaging, we demonstrate how single proteins behave inside the nanowire when this 3.5 billion years old nanowire processes memory-bits.

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