Scientists have taught monkeys the power of thought to manage virtual hands

During the experiment, American biologists taught monkeys to force their virtual “avatar” to put their hands on two round objects shown on a computer monitor, using first joysticks and then only the power of thought.

Researchers managed to teach primates to mentally manage with two virtual hands at once, rather than one, as it was before, which means scientists are even closer to developing brain-controlled artificial limbs for people with disabilities, according to an article published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

In the study, the researchers found that a multitude of nerve cells are simultaneously responsible for the motor functions of the body, rather than each separately, and their activity increased when the subjects controlled two virtual hands at once, according to ria.ru.

Researchers Miguel Nickelis of Duke American University and Mikhail Lebedev, a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, say: “Millions of people suffer from sensory and motor defects caused by damage to the spinal cord. The neuro-computer interface is an artificial system that can restore motor and tactile functions in such patients due to the “connection” of their brain to special devices. ”

In 2011, this group of scientists had already conducted a similar experiment using a neuro-computer interface: ultrathin electrodes were connected to the motor center of the monkey brain, which connected to a computer, thanks to which primates were able to control one virtual hand with their power of thought. Now, the rhesus monkeys have been taught to move two virtual limbs at once. During the experiment, when monkeys stopped using joysticks and “moved” with virtual hands by the power of thought, scientists “read” the nervous signals of the subjects with the help of multi-electrode arrays previously implanted by them. As a result, the monkeys learned to cope with the task after 15 days. This is due to the plasticity of the brain of rhesus monkeys, that is, the ability of their brain cells to change during training, the article says.

The results will undoubtedly find their application not only in the practice of developing “smart” prostheses for people with damaged spinal cords, scientists are sure, but in many other areas of health care and technology development in general.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/gadgets/uchenye-nauchili-obezyan-siloj-mysli-upravlyat-virtualnymi-rukami.html.