Towards˙Hybrid˙Artifical-Slime˙Mould˙Devices Biophysical Reviews and Letters c © World Scientific Publishing Company Towards Hybrid Artificial-Slime Mould Devices

The plasmodium of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum has recently received sig-nificant attention for its value as a highly malleable amorphous computing substrate. In laboratory-based experiments, micro- and nanoscale artificial circuit components were introduced into the P. polycephalum plasmdodium to investigate the electrical prop-erties and computational abilities of hybridised slime mould. It was found through a combination of imaging techniques and electrophysiological measurements that P. poly-cephalum is able to internalise a range of electrically active nanoparticles, assemble them in vivo and distribute them around the plasmodium. Hybridised plasmodium is able to form biomorphic mineralised networks, both inside the living plasmodium and the empty trails left in its wake by taxis, both of which facilitate the transmission of electricity. Hy-bridisation also alters the bioelectrical activity of the plasmodium and likely influences its information processing capabilities. It was concluded that hybridised slime mould is a suitable substrate for producing functional unconventional computing devices