In any experiment reported, monkeys were able to convert their intelligent thought process into controlling a mechanical arm.
Such a success in research of the though process of the brain to influence the mechanical motion of a device will hold tremendous implication in the field of military weaponry and artificial platforms.
Monkeys able to control robotic arm using brain impulses: study
DURHAM, North Carolina : US researchers have taught monkeys to control a robot arm using brain impulses in an experiment that could have far-reaching implications for the rehabilitation of people who have suffered brain or nerve damage.
Researchers at Duke University implanted micro-electrodes into the brains of two rhesus monkeys, allowing them to control a robotic arm to play a videogame using only signals from their brains and visual feedback on a video screen.
"(The monkey) got it that he could think about how to solve the video game, produce the pattern of brain activity that our mathematical models could understand and interact with a robot and solve the maze that you needed to solve," said Dr Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University Medical Center.
The researchers hope the technology could be developed for analysing brain signals and could improve the rehabilitation of people with brain and spinal cord damage from strokes, diseases or trauma.
"You can bypass damaged parts of the brain and extract all the information you need to control human movement. These brain-machine interfaces hold enormous promise for restoring function to paralyzed people," Dr Nicolelis said.
In their experiments, the researchers first implanted an array of micro-electrodes into the frontal and parietal lobes of the brains of two rhesus macaque monkeys.
A computer recorded and analysed the brain activity of the monkeys as they were taught to use a joystick to play a videogame that required them to hit a target on-screen.
Out of sight of the animals, the joystick was in fact hooked up to a
robotic arm, complete with sensors, which controlled the computer cursor.
The scientists then removed the joystick, after which the monkeys continued to move their arms in mid-air to "manipulate" the cursor, thus controlling the robot arm.
But after only a few days of playing with the robot in this way, the monkeys suddenly realised that they did not need to move their arms at all. - CNA