Scientists have successfully taught monkeys to move the arms of a computer game character using power of thought alone, a breakthrough they say could benefit severely paralysed patients.
A team at the Duke University Centre for Neuroengineering in Durham, the US, taught two rhesus monkeys to operate a virtual arm with their brain power. The animals were able to differentiate between the textures of virtual objects they were "feeling".
The researchers hoped that their findings could pave the way for the development of a "robotic exoskeleton" to be worn by severely paralysed people, helping them move and experience the world around them using brainwaves, the Daily Telegraph reported.
"Someday in the near future, quadriplegic patients will take advantage of this technology not only to move their arms and hands and to walk again, but also to sense the texture of objects placed in their hands," Professor Miguel Nicolelis,who led the study, said
No comments:
Post a Comment