It may sound like the kind of mind control seen in sci-fi film Avatar, but scientists working on a cure for paralysis have successfully used the thoughts of one monkey to control the movement of another.
Using technology fictionalised in James Cameron's 2009 film, scientists from California wired the brain of one Rhesus monkey to the spinal cord of another which had been placed in a state of artificial paralysis.
The conscious monkey was then able to control the movements of the second primate using only its thoughts, even though it was completely disconnected from the arm muscle it sought to control
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Using mind control technology fictionalised in the 2009 film Avatar, pictured, scientists working on a cure for paralysis have successfully used the thoughts of one monkey to control the movement of another
HOW DID THE EXPERIMENT WORK?
During lab tests, a team of engineers and neuroscientists from Cornell University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering used electrodes to connect the brain of one monkey to the spinal cord of another.
A computer then decoded and relayed neural signals between the two.
The first monkey, dubbed the 'master', was restrained in a special chair in front of a computer screen showing a cursor and a green circle alternating between two spots.
The second animal, or 'avatar', was fully sedated in a separate enclosure with its arm strapped to a 360-degree joystick.
This joystick was used to move the cursor, and chase the circular target, on the screen in front of the 'master.'
As the 'master' thought of moving the cursor, its brain signals were decoded to determine which of the two targets it had in mind.
This data was relayed in real-time to the spinal cord of the sleeping avatar, whose arm manipulated the joystick accordingly.
Every time the cursor hit its target, the master received a squirt of juice as reward.
The study's co-author, Maryam Shanechi of Cornell University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said: We demonstrate that a subject can control a paralysed limb purely with its thoughts.'
The discovery 'could have the potential to help paralysed patients regain control of their own limbs,' she added.
During lab tests, a team of engineers and neuroscientists from Cornell University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering used electrodes to connect the brain of one monkey to the spinal cord of another.
A computer then decoded and relayed neural signals between the two.
The first monkey, dubbed the 'master', was restrained in a special chair in front of a computer screen showing a cursor and a green circle alternating between two spots.
The second animal, or 'avatar', was fully sedated in a separate enclosure with its arm strapped to a 360-degree joystick.
This joystick was used to move the cursor, and chase the circular target, on the screen in front of the 'master.'
As the 'master' thought of moving the cursor, its brain signals were decoded to determine which of the two targets it had in mind.
This data was relayed in real-time to the spinal cord of the sleeping avatar, whose arm manipulated the joystick accordingly.
Scientists from California wired the brain of one Rhesus monkey, stock image pictured, to the spinal cord of another which had been placed in a state of artificial paralysis. The conscious monkey was able to control the movements of the second primate using only its thoughts
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