Scientists got lab-grown human brain cells to play 'Pong'

Researchers who grew a brain cell culture in a lab claim that they taught the cells to play a version of Pong. Scientists from a biotech startup called Cortical Labs say it's the first demonstrated example of a so-called "mini-brain" being taught to carry out goal-directed tasks. ''It is able to take in information from an external source, process it and then respond to it in real time," Dr. Brett Kagan, lead author of a paper on the research that was published in Neuron, told the BBC.