“The Monkey Cannot Feel The Electrodes In Its Brain, And Did Not Appear To Be Distressed By The Wires Leading From A Socket On Its Head”
July 14th, 2009Via: Sky:
A monkey fitted with a hi-tech brain chip has learned to move a complex robotic arm using mind control.
The animal can operate the robot with such dexterity that it can reach out to grab, and turn a handle.
The mechanical arm has an arm, elbow, wrist and simple hand, which the monkey controls with the power of thought.
Sky News was given exclusive access to the laboratory at Pittsburgh University in the United States.
The research is progressing so rapidly that scientists hope to start trials on paralysed patients within a year.
Neurobiologist Dr Andy Schwartz said: “What we’re trying to do is go to a very dextrous hand – where the functionality is very similar to the human hand. If we could help stroke patients there would be a huge market for this kind of device.”
They also hope to help patients who have been paralysed by spinal chord injuries or degenerative diseases of the nervous system.
Electrodes implanted in the monkey’s motor cortex, the brain’s movement control centre, pick up pulses within individual neurones.
The signals are relayed to a computer which analyses their pattern and strength to gauge what the monkey is trying to do. It then translates the signals to alter the speed and direction of the robotic arm.
The system is so quick that if the arm overshoots the monkey’s intended target, it can rapidly correct the movement.
Dr Schwartz told Sky News: “It’s pretty amazing because monkeys aren’t used to moving tools.
“We use them all the time. Imagine you’re moving your arm to get that piece of food. Conveying that to a monkey is pretty difficult, yet the monkey learns it fairly rapidly.
“As the days go by, you see the monkeys start using it as if it is part of their own body.”
The monkey cannot feel the electrodes in its brain, and did not appear to be distressed by the wires leading from a socket on its head.
