{"id":523574,"date":"2026-06-16T10:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/news\/verso-chip-che-imitano-il-cervello-umano-studio-ateneo-su-nature-electronics\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T12:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:53:34","slug":"towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Towards chips that mimic the human brain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Computers capable of learning and processing information more efficiently in terms of energy consumption, inspired by the way the human brain works. This is the prospect emerging from a study published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41928-026-01634-z\"><strong><em>Nature Electronics<\/em><\/strong><\/a> involving the <strong>University of Pisa<\/strong>, <strong>Shanghai University<\/strong>, the <strong>University of Messina<\/strong> and the <strong>\u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL)<\/strong>, coordinated by Professor Andras Kis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe human brain can process enormous amounts of information while consuming only a fraction of the energy required by artificial intelligence systems,\u201d explains <strong>Giuseppe Iannaccone<\/strong>, Professor at the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa and co-author of the study. \u201cOne reason is that, in the brain, memory and processing functions are tightly integrated within the same neural networks. In computers, by contrast, data must be continuously transferred between memory and the processor, resulting in significant energy consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To move closer to the biological model, the researchers developed <strong>new electronic memories based on ultra-thin two-dimensional materials that make it possible to store information and perform computing operations in the same location on the chip<\/strong>. This result was achieved through a new architecture combining two materials: molybdenum disulphide and niobium disulphide. This combination reduces one of the main limitations of two-dimensional devices, namely contact resistance, significantly improving performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA further advantage is that <strong>this new technology is compatible with the silicon chips currently produced by the electronics industry<\/strong>,\u201d adds Giuseppe Iannaccone. \u201cThe current challenge is to make artificial intelligence increasingly powerful while also making it more energy-efficient and suitable for use in small-scale sensors and autonomous devices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research forms part of the work initiated by the <strong>European project QUEFORMAL<\/strong>, coordinated by Iannaccone and dedicated to the development of innovative electronic devices based on two-dimensional materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The research, published in Nature Electronics, paves the way for devices that integrate memory and computing on a single chip, enabling energy-efficient neural networks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":523530,"menu_order":2,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"tag-notizie-persone":[],"tags_news":[1224,2305],"categorie":[159],"class_list":["post-523574","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tags_news-department-of-information-engineering","tags_news-research-en","categorie-unipinews-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The research, published in Nature Electronics, paves the way for devices that integrate memory and computing on a single chip, enabling energy-efficient neural networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNIPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T10:53:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/\",\"name\":\"Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T08:15:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-26T10:53:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Towards chips that mimic the human brain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/\",\"name\":\"UNIPI\",\"description\":\"UNIPI\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UNIPI\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg\",\"width\":176,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"UNIPI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/unipisa\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI","og_description":"The research, published in Nature Electronics, paves the way for devices that integrate memory and computing on a single chip, enabling energy-efficient neural networks","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/","og_site_name":"UNIPI","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/","article_modified_time":"2026-06-26T10:53:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/","name":"Towards chips that mimic the human brain ~ UNIPI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-16T08:15:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-26T10:53:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/geralt-ai-7114792.jpg","width":900,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/towards-chips-that-mimic-the-human-brain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"","item":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Towards chips that mimic the human brain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/","name":"UNIPI","description":"UNIPI","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization","name":"UNIPI","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg","width":176,"height":64,"caption":"UNIPI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/unipisa\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/523574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tag-notizie-persone","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag-notizie-persone?post=523574"},{"taxonomy":"tags_news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags_news?post=523574"},{"taxonomy":"categorie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie?post=523574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}