  Ortus is a simple virtual organism that also serves as an initial framework
for investigating and developing biologically-based artificial intelligence.
Born from a goal to create complex virtual intelligence and an initial attempt
to model C. elegans, Ortus implements a number of mechanisms observed in
organic nervous systems, and attempts to fill in unknowns based upon plausible
biological implementations and psychological observations. Implemented
mechanisms include excitatory and inhibitory chemical synapses, bidirectional
gap junctions, and Hebbian learning with its Stentian extension. We present an
initial experiment that showcases Ortus' fundamental principles; specifically,
a cyclic respiratory circuit, and emotionally-driven associative learning with
respect to an input stimulus. Finally, we discuss the implications and future
directions for Ortus and similar systems.
