Si elegans: Evaluation of an innovative optical synaptic connectivity method for C. elegans Phototaxis using FPGAs

Understanding how simple biological entities perform complex tasks (such as moving away from predators, reproduction and seeking for food) is one of the main goals of researchers across the world. The C. elegans nematode is one of the simplest and well characterised biological nervous systems (BNS) and the Si elegans EU FP7 project aims to develop a framework to mimic its functionality and better understand basic functions. This paper presents a small scale emulation environment composed of 8 neurons running on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), where each neuron FPGA is interconnected to all of the other neuron FPGAs via an innovative optical synaptic connectivity strategy. This paper evaluates the fidelity of synaptic communication for transmission of spikes using both wired and optical methods.