The result is a memristor with performance comparable to that of a silicon-based chip, but potentially low-cost, scalable, and environmentally friendly in ways many computer components today are not.<\/p>\n
Related: <\/b>Engineers Gave a Mushroom a Robot Body And Let It Run Wild<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n “Being able to develop microchips that mimic actual neural activity means you don’t need a lot of power for standby or when the machine isn’t being used,” says psychiatrist John LaRocco<\/a> of Ohio State University. “That’s something that can be a huge potential computational and economic advantage.”<\/p>\n The development of a computer that behaves like a brain requires the development of components that also behave like parts of the brain. One of these requirements is memristors that can act like synapses<\/a> \u2013 junctions between neurons that manage the flow of information.<\/p>\n Scientists have considered using mushrooms as computer parts, not least because mycelial networks behave in ways<\/a> that are similar to neural networks. They are structured similarly and transmit information using electrical and chemical signals<\/a>, just like a brain.<\/p>\n But the fact they aren’t actually brains means some engineering is needed to make them do what scientists need them to do.<\/p>\n The team used shiitake mushrooms because this species is particularly robust, resilient, and resistant to stressors<\/a> such as radiation. The researchers seeded nine samples in substrate-filled petri dishes with shiitake spores and grew them under controlled temperature and humidity conditions.<\/p>\n When the mycelium had grown enough to cover the petri dish, the researchers dried out each sample in a well-ventilated area in direct sunlight to ensure its long-term viability. Thus prepared, each sample was ready to be put to work to test its computational chops, connected to a purpose-built circuit to be flooded with electrical currents<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We would connect electrical wires and probes at different points on the mushrooms because distinct parts of it have different electrical properties,” LaRocco says<\/a>. “Depending on the voltage and connectivity, we were seeing different performances.”<\/p>\n The researchers achieved a performance of 5,850 Hertz, with an accuracy of 90 percent from their ‘mushristor’ \u2013 that is, it switches signals at a speed of about 5,850 times per second, or one switch every 170 microseconds or so. The slowest commercially available memristors start at a little under twice that speed<\/a>, so the experiment is extremely promising for the first baby steps.<\/p>\n The researchers also found that as the electrical voltage increased, the mushroom’s performance decreased. They were able to compensate for this by adding more mushrooms to the circuit.<\/p>\n You’re not going to have a mycelial computer powering your doomscrolling<\/a> any time soon. Still, the findings do indicate that this is an auspicious avenue for future research and development toward accessible, low-cost, and biodegradable components, with potential applications ranging from personal devices to aerospace<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Everything you’d need to start exploring fungi and computing could be as small as a compost heap and some homemade electronics, or as big as a culturing factory with pre-made templates,” LaRocco says<\/a>. “All of them are viable with the resources we have in front of us now.”<\/p>\n As the researchers note in their paper<\/a>, “The future of computing could be fungal.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mycelial-memristors.jpg\")
The mycelial memristors connected to a circuit. (LaRocco et al., PLOS One<\/a>, 2025)<\/p>\n![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761654318_755_0.jpg\")
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