Monkey's brain controls robot arm

U.S. researchers have taught monkeys to feed themselves with a human-like robotic arm which they control with signals from their brains.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University implanted tiny electrodes into the primary motor cortex, the region of the brain that sends electrical signals to other parts of the body to control movement.

After programming the arm to respond to certain brain activity, the researchers were then able to train the monkeys to operate the arm and have it reach for a treat, pick it up and bring it to their mouths.

They say the research could lead to the development of prosthetics for people with spinal cord injuries and those with conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"In our research, we've demonstrated a higher level of precision, skill and learning," said University of Pittsburgh senior researcher Andrew Schwartz, a professor of neurobiology.

"The monkey learns by first observing the movement, which activates his brain cells as if he were doing it," he said in a statement. "It's a lot like sports training, where trainers have athletes first imagine that they are performing the movements they desire."

The research was published online today in the journal Nature.

University of Montreal researcher John Kalaska, who was not part of the research team, described in an accompanying news article the ease with which the monkeys adapted to and learned to control their robotic arms.

But he suggested research in this area is still far from widespread application, in part because implantable electrodes are prone to deterioration and are not yet a long-term solution.

The monkeys in the experiment also guided the robotic arm mostly through visual observation of the arm, he said. Any practical prosthetic limb would also have to incorporate a sense of touch so the user could control the limb without, for example, accidentally crushing the object they were trying to grab.

"These and other technical issues are challenging, but not insurmountable," he wrote.