We have entered a new era of Cyborg Monkeys. Monkey Think, Monkey Do Study May Help Paralyzed:
Three years ago, Nicolelis and colleagues at Duke University in North Carolina reported that they had allowed a monkey to move a robotic arm using only her thoughts and implanted electrodes. But the monkey continued to move her arm.In the latest experiment, they said two monkeys figured out what was happening and played a computer game using thoughts alone.
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Nicolelis and colleagues first implanted microelectrodes — each smaller than the diameter of a human hair — into the brains of two female rhesus macaque monkeys named Aurora and Ivy.One got 96 electrodes in her frontal and parietal lobes — known to be the source of commands for muscular movement. The second monkey got 320 implants.
The electrodes transmit faint signals to a computer system the researchers have developed to recognize patterns of signals that represent particular movements by an animal’s arm. These signals are translated and in turn control a robotic arm.
At first the animals were taught to use a joystick to control the cursor of a video game — which Nicolelis said they enjoyed playing. The researchers recorded and analyzed the electrical activity of the neurons near the implanted electrodes.
As the game became more complex, the monkeys learned how to control the cursor.
The scientists, of course, must maintain the facade that this is all about helping paralyzed humans — until their Robo-Monkeys conquer the world.