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Brain Implants Help Paralyzed Monkeys Get a Grip
sciencehabit writes "Spinal cord injuries cause paralysis because they sever crucial communication links between the brain and the muscles that move limbs. A new study with monkeys demonstrates a way to re-establish those connections. By implanting electrodes in a movement control center in the brain and wiring them up to electrodes attached to muscles in the arm, researchers restored movement to monkeys with a temporarily paralyzed hand. The work is the latest promising development in the burgeoning field of neuroprosthetics."
I think it would be a more interesting experiment to implant electrodes in one person's brain and wire them up to electrodes in another person's arm.
Imagining the hacking opportunities already: “Quit hitting yourself, Quit hitting yourself”
Does it work for politicians too? Most of them need to get a grip, and need a brain implant or transplant.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
The monkeys were immediately able to fling shit at them once they regained movement in their hands.
that movie could of been done better and with out the Society part and with a more of a cover up feel as in there was to be no way that they will let him go free.
with the best of them.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
wasn't this basically the premise of "Interface"? when are we gonna get a radio-controlled president? oh wait - that was george bush. how did that work out?
A pair of implants could inspire me to move my hands again too.
Well, he's not functioning the way he normally does. He seems depressed. He's lost his appetite.
He's even curtailed his autoerotic activities.
And we think this is directly related to the laptop with you the other day.
So, so what do you want me to do?
Well, frankly we'd like you to run some AV.
Yeah, well he hacked me.
Mr. K, he is an innocent primate.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
"I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it, what's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies, maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?""
- Jonathan Coulton, Skullcrusher Mountain
So we find you can control limbs with wires. How long until we control limbs that are wireless? Can a man control 8 robotic arms and be like Dr. Octopus? Can we hook electrodes to our brain, wifi to it, and wifi to a monkey, then we can control a monkey with our minds? All Twilight Zone plot lines aside, this research is really awesome. It gives hope to everyone paralyzed that they'll be able to regain movement again. This is the stuff that money should be thrown at hand over fist.
God spoke to me
Just wondering.
I guess the first use of this technology will be that at security checkpoints we will give ourselves a pat down :)
Uhhhh.... probably?
I think so. Otherwise, it would be a pretty long wait to find the right paralyzed monkeys for your study.
Relax. He's no longer president. You can now move on with your life.
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
A thousands hands on normal length arms connected to a single monkey would resemble a ball.
Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
Well, I for one, welcome our handshaking overlords!
Defining Statistics and Social Research
Not soon enough.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I know this is slashdot, but you could at least read the article before the knee-jerk response kicks in.
To test this idea, the researchers injected a nerve-blocking drug to temporarily paralyze one hand and forearm in the monkeys.
They used a drug to temporarily paralyze the hand. They didn't break its spine, they didn't kill it. There was probably a tiny bit of pain and fear, no different from vaccinating a child. Please try to keep things in context.
That's excellent news. By using PETA members in early stage clinical trials we can accelerate our research substantially.
Would you prefer to test the anti-aging drug Rapamycin, the cancer immunotherapy drug VSV-GFP, or this new one I keep seeing in my in-box that enlarges your p*nis?