A neural modeling device comprising an electrolyte, a lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane which is situated in the electrolyte and in which an ion pump and an ion channel are buried, and an electrode for transmitting a potential of the lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane as an electrical signal. The ion pump actively transports selected ions in the electrolyte through the membrane from one side to the other side in response to an external stimulus such as light irradiation. When the difference in potential between the opposite sides of the membrane reaches a threshold, the ion channel opens to passively transport selected ions in a direction reverse to the ion transporting direction of the ion pump. When this device is exposed to light, the ion pump actively transports ions to generate a potential in the lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane. Upon detection of this potential, the ion channel opens to eliminate the potential, and then another potential will be generated again by the active transportation of the ion pump. Thus it is possible to generate an oscillating electrical signal by an external stimulus such as light irradiation.
Neural modeling device