A recent study at Harvard Medical School works on a very early, wired mind control system that links human brain activity via a computer-to-brain interface to control the movements of an anaesthetized rat’s tail. (via Harvard)
Telepathic mind control is a definitive sign that a species has advanced significantly in its evolutionary development path. Unfortunately, wireless mind control is still a ways a way for human beings, granted the technology is created to do the job before the brain is capable of accomplishing it on its own. A new study, however, has begun to exploit the possibilities of a wired mind control system that links a human brain to control a rat’s movement via an intermediate computer interface.
The study was being performed by Seung-Schik Yoo and colleagues at Boston’s Harvard Medical School. To simulate the mind-reading functions, human volunteers were hooked up to a non-invasive computer-to-brain interface (CBI) via an electroencephalography device (EEG) device that monitored their brain activity. Participants were asked to focus on a strobe light that blinked on a computer monitor; the focus created an EEG wave pattern that matched the frequency of the on-screen strobe light. Then, researchers asked volunteers to turn their attention toward telepathically moving the rat’s tail - this intention appeared as increased amplitude in the EEG reading which would then trigger the delivery of a transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) wave to the computer.
The Sprague-Dawley rat used in the study was anaesthetized to ensure the delivery of the FUS signal was properly realized. Similarly, the rat, connected to the same CBI, received the FUS through its motor cortex - all six participants successfully triggered the movement of its tail.
Although an impressive feat, the research already has challengers. Ricardo Chavarriaga at EPFL in Lausanne explains that due to the rat’s anaesthetized state, the results are unclear as to how a person’s intention would really affect the rat’s motion. The study lacks the ability to distinguish between specific human-generated intentions and the resultant action; i.e, being able to tell the difference between a brain signal that triggers a hand movement as opposed to tail movement.
Fortunately, the researchers at Harvard are up to the challenge and are already working on brain activity pattern recognition and other brain monitoring technologies. The hope is that one day; the technology developed will be used in therapeutic settings where rehabilitating patients may be assisted by a mind-control capable physician that can assist in their bodily movements.
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