Northwestern University engineers printed artificial neurons that don’t just imitate the brain — they talk to it.

In a new study, the Northwestern team developed flexible, low-cost devices that generate electrical signals realistic enough to activate living brain cells. When tested on slices of tissue from mouse brains, the artificial neurons successfully triggered responses from real neurons, demonstrating a new level of biocompatibility.

The work marks a step toward electronics that can communicate directly with the nervous system, with potential applications in brain-machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics, including implants for hearing, vision and movement.

It also lays the groundwork for more efficient, brain-like computing systems. By mimicking how neurons signal — a key feature of the brain, which is the most energy-efficient computer known — futuristic systems could perform complex operations using far less power than today’s data-hungry technologies.

The study was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/4/printed-neurons-communicate-with-living-brain-cells