SCIENTISTS who trained monkeys to control a robotic arm using only brain signals have shown for the first time that the same technique will work in people too.
Miguel Nicolelis鈥檚 team at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, placed electrodes in the brains of 11 patients with Parkinson鈥檚 disease while they were undergoing separate brain surgery. The team could predict hand movements from the brain signals, the first step towards controlling a robotic limb. 鈥淲e now know that it鈥檚 possible in people,鈥� Nicolelis says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big step.鈥�
The technique might one day make it possible to bypass spinal damage and put people back in control of their limbs.
Advertisement