Neuroengineers have succeeded in adding a sense of physical touch to a
brain-computer interface for monkeys—a development that could lead to
the next generation of human prosthetics.
Researchers implanted electrodes into
the brains of two monkeys. One let them control a cursor on a screen or
an avatar of an arm; the other sent back information about the textures
of objects being "touched." The feedback to the monkey's brains—believed
to be a tingle-like sensation—was created with electrical impulses of
two different frequencies.
The monkeys first used a physical
joystick to manipulate the cursor and arm, as they learned to
distinguish the two textures (and to recognize when there was no
texture). Later they successfully used their brains alone to move the
arms and distinguish the textures.
The ultimate goal is to create human
prosthetics that could feel as well as manipulate objects—or even to
fashion a whole-body exoskeleton for the paralyzed.
"Active Tactile Exploration Using a Brain-Machine-Brain Interface," Joseph E. O'Doherty and six other authors, Nature (Oct. 5)
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