Figure 2 (IMAGE) Tohoku University Caption The reservoir computer based on biological neurons could be used to classify spoken digits even when the speakers were switched during training and testing. Classification accuracy after the switch decreased compared to when there was no speaker switching, but classification was achieved above chance level. Such classification was not possible when the input signal was directly decoded by a linear classifier, suggesting that biological neurons act as a generalization filter to improve the performance of reservoir computing. Credit Yamamoto et al. Usage Restrictions Reporters may use freely these materials in news coverage with appropriate credit information. License Original content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.