Programming language

Manchester University scientists will use a supercomputer to replicate the part of the brain that controls speech and language in order to understand abnormalities in those functions after a stroke.

Psychologists and computer scientists will develop the speech and language model using a computer system that will be up to 1,000 times more powerful than a standard PC.

Called Chatter Box, the £940,000, five-year study is linked to the £1m Brain Box project that aims to build a new type of computer based on biological principles that will enable it to carry out highly complex functions similar to those performed by the human brain.

‘The human brain contains about one hundred billion nerve cells or neurons that each have to make a simple decision as to whether to "fire" or not,’ said Prof Steve Furber, from the School of Computer Science.

He added: ‘Each neuron’s decision is based on how many other connecting neurons have fired recently. When this simple computation is distributed over billions of neurons, it is capable of supporting all the highly complex behavioural characteristics exhibited by humans.