Neuroscience
Scientists have made a breakthrough in their efforts to bring paralysed people the ability to use thought power alone to control artificial limbs, and to interact with computers and other electrical devices.
John Donoghue and colleagues implanted a tiny array of electrodes into the brain of a 25-year-man who is unable to move his arms or legs following a knife wound that severed his spinal cord. The brain implant allowed him to use his thoughts to check emails, play a simple computer game, change channels and volume on a TV, and to control a robotic arm. It is the first time an implant of this kind has been tested in a human.
The electrode array was implanted into the part of the man's brain that, prior to his injury, would have controlled his left arm. By forming the intention to move his arm, neurons were activated in this region, their pattern of firing was recorded by the implant and then an external computer converted the neuronal firing into a command for a mouse cursor or robotic arm.
The findings represent a significant advance on at least three fronts – the man was able to achieve this control within a few minutes of practice; he was able to chat with researchers while he was exerting mental control of the cursor, TV or robot arm; and his control was in all directions, rather than just left and right or up and down. This is in contrast to non-invasive brain-machine interfaces that rely on recording the surface electrical activity of the brain. They require weeks or months of training, demand the user’s full attention when in operation, and, until recently, only allowed one-dimensional cursor control. This new study also shows that several years after paralysis, neurons that were previously involved in controlling limbs still respond to the will to move.
However, significant hurdles remain. As well as involving surgery and the risk of infection, the device used in this trial was connected by wires to bulky computing equipment and required constant fine tuning. A fully-implantable, wireless device would be preferable. Moreover, the precise control we achieve with our natural limbs depends on constant sensory feedback from touch and proprioception – the sense of where our limbs are in space. Scientists have a long way to go before they 'close the loop' by mimicking this kind of feedback.
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Hochberg, L.R., Serruya, M.D., Friehs, G.M., Mukand, J.A., Saleh, M., Caplan, A.H., Branner, A., Chen, D., Penn, R.D. & Donoghue, J.P. (2006). Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia. Nature, 442, 164-171. Open access.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to accompanying videos. Open access.
- "the Brain Is The Wildcard"
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- Monkey "closed Loop" Manipulation
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- Thinking The World Into Motion
Wow! Cool stuff going on at Brown. From their Jan/Feb 2005 alumni magazine comes Thinking the World into Motion. From the summary on their web site: "Last June, Matthew Nagle, a quadriplegic, became the first human to receive a tiny brain implant that...
Neuroscience
New dawn in brain-machine interfacing
Scientists have made a breakthrough in their efforts to bring paralysed people the ability to use thought power alone to control artificial limbs, and to interact with computers and other electrical devices.John Donoghue and colleagues implanted a tiny array of electrodes into the brain of a 25-year-man who is unable to move his arms or legs following a knife wound that severed his spinal cord. The brain implant allowed him to use his thoughts to check emails, play a simple computer game, change channels and volume on a TV, and to control a robotic arm. It is the first time an implant of this kind has been tested in a human.
The electrode array was implanted into the part of the man's brain that, prior to his injury, would have controlled his left arm. By forming the intention to move his arm, neurons were activated in this region, their pattern of firing was recorded by the implant and then an external computer converted the neuronal firing into a command for a mouse cursor or robotic arm.
The findings represent a significant advance on at least three fronts – the man was able to achieve this control within a few minutes of practice; he was able to chat with researchers while he was exerting mental control of the cursor, TV or robot arm; and his control was in all directions, rather than just left and right or up and down. This is in contrast to non-invasive brain-machine interfaces that rely on recording the surface electrical activity of the brain. They require weeks or months of training, demand the user’s full attention when in operation, and, until recently, only allowed one-dimensional cursor control. This new study also shows that several years after paralysis, neurons that were previously involved in controlling limbs still respond to the will to move.
However, significant hurdles remain. As well as involving surgery and the risk of infection, the device used in this trial was connected by wires to bulky computing equipment and required constant fine tuning. A fully-implantable, wireless device would be preferable. Moreover, the precise control we achieve with our natural limbs depends on constant sensory feedback from touch and proprioception – the sense of where our limbs are in space. Scientists have a long way to go before they 'close the loop' by mimicking this kind of feedback.
__________________________________
Hochberg, L.R., Serruya, M.D., Friehs, G.M., Mukand, J.A., Saleh, M., Caplan, A.H., Branner, A., Chen, D., Penn, R.D. & Donoghue, J.P. (2006). Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia. Nature, 442, 164-171. Open access.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to accompanying videos. Open access.
- "the Brain Is The Wildcard"
An eye prosthesis implant has gained FDA approval for clinical trials aiming to restore vision to people blinded by retinal degenerative diseases. Second Sight produced a 16-electrode implant device a few years ago, which five patients are still using...
- The Brain Radio
The Brain Radio is a long-running French radio program: THE BRAIN are Eva & Pascal Lebrain aka Puyo puyo, they run this radioshow from 1999, it deals with freaky electro, cheesy vintage, dry rock, movie themes and oddities in general. All is stuffed...
- Neural Systems Are Fluid, Even When No Learning Is Taking Place
Brain uses both neural 'teacher' and 'tinkerer' in learning - MIT News Office This seems to be the first publication confirming a property of the brain that's been widely suspected by neuroscientists for years, namely, that neurons...
- Monkey "closed Loop" Manipulation
From Wired News, another presentation from Neuroscience 2004:Advent of the Robotic Monkeys By David Cohn 01:00 PM Oct. 26, 2004 PT Wired News If a monkey is hungry but has his arms pinned, there's not much he can do about it. Unless that monkey...
- Thinking The World Into Motion
Wow! Cool stuff going on at Brown. From their Jan/Feb 2005 alumni magazine comes Thinking the World into Motion. From the summary on their web site: "Last June, Matthew Nagle, a quadriplegic, became the first human to receive a tiny brain implant that...