Monkey Think, Monkey Do

[OnwardMike at aol.com]

Russ Anderson, a charter member of this list and a paraplegic, once observed 
that "the cure" is always "five years away," whether you started counting in 
1975 or in 2000.  So here's another entrant in the Derby.

I think the AP story pointed out that while this technology has applicability 
for sending signals *to* a prosthesis (for example), there is no solution yet 
-- under this research -- to get a signal back from the prosthesis to the 
brain.

Michael B.

<< FROM "THE REGISTER," AN ONLINE TECHNOLOGY PAPER

Monkey brain signals used to work robots
By: Lucy Sherriff
Posted: 16/11/2000 at 13:03 GMT

Researchers have moved a step closer to creating workable neural prostheses, 
following the identification, in monkeys, of the brain signals the lead to 
motion. They have also been able to use those signals to trigger the same 
movement in a robot in real time. 

Previous work in the area has involved a time delay between intercepting the 
signals and instigating robotic movement. 

The technology is possible because of the way a primate's brain works. Before 
we do anything, our brains plan it at a sub-conscious level. There is a tiny 
delay between the planning phase and carrying it out, which can be exploited 
by a robot. 

"As the monkey brain prepares the pattern required to make the movement, we 
record it and send the signal to a computer," Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis, a 
neuroscientist at Duke University, said. "As the monkey starts to move, our 
prediction is sent to the robot, and it moves at the same time." 

The long term goal of research like this is to develop proper brain to 
machine interfaces that would allow paralysed people to walk again. The idea 
behind this is that even if the movement is no longer possible, the brain may 
still plan a motion. If this is so then eventually someone paralysed from the 
waist down could use technology like this to walk. 

The next step, the researchers said, would be to close the loop. They 
speculate that eventually a monkey may learn to use a remote robot to do its 
bidding, without actually carrying out the motions itself. 

Once perfected, it could be used by surgeons as they learn to use a 
prosthetic device as an extension of their bodies. 

That, however, is still a long way off the researchers say. The "small" 
problem of miniaturising and implanting the electrodes still remains to be 
solved. ® >>