UW Researchers Demonstrate First Direct Communication Between Human Brains

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday August 27, 2013 @07:39AM from the i'm-just-going-to-remote-in-and-fix-this-problem-for-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Opening a fascinating set of ethical and legal issues, researchers at UW Seattle have demonstrated the first device to allow direct communication between two humans' brains. Effectively, they allowed a subject to play a video game with another subject's fingers. For now, the communication is uni-directional, though they intend to extend it to bi-directional. EEG sensors are attached to a subject's motor cortex to detect 'motor imagery' — imagined hand movement, in this case. That activity is translated and sent over a computer network where it triggers a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS) located over Subject 2's motor cortex. Effectively, Subject 1 imagines moving their hand, and Subject 2's hand moved."

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Won't use it until my brain discloses it's source by behrooz0az · 2013-08-27 08:06 · Score: 5, Interesting

Have you considered the very real posibility that brain may not have proper mandatory authorization and intput verification and anyone with local access can say stop your heart?

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Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
Prerecorded impulses? by Antipater · 2013-08-27 08:14 · Score: 4, Interesting

Can they record and save the impulse patterns? I can see it now - just pop on my brain-stimulating hat, hit play, and I can finally Dougie!

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Everything is better with chainsaws.
With further development ... by hendrikboom · 2013-08-27 08:32 · Score: 4, Interesting

Would this help people with locked-in syndrome? Would they be able to use someone else's hand to act? to communicate?
Which one of the two people would have to have Parkinson's to make the resulting hand movements irregular?
Etc., Etc.
-- hendrik