Imagine a future
in which people with neurological disorders can tap into a healthy brain to
re-learn how to move a paralyzed leg, or multiple brains are wired together to
solve problems and control robots. This is something that is no longer beyond
the realms of possibility. Scientists have shown that multiple animals can work
together to solve problems through the power of thought alone for the first
time, and the connotations could be huge. The work by researchers of Duke
University in North Carolina involved two experiments: in the first, three
rhesus macaque monkeys in separate rooms were wired together into a ‘brainet’
using implanted electrode arrays. They were then tasked with controlling a
virtual avatar arm on a screen, but each monkey could only control the arm in
two axes by thinking particular thoughts. Successfully moving the arm towards a
target earned them a reward, juice, but this only worked when they all worked
together. Over time, the monkeys improved and their brain activity became more
strongly correlated, earning them more rewards.
In the second
study, four rats were wired together and tasked with solving a set of
computational problems to earn a prize, in this case water. One of the problems
involved them predicting how likely it was to rain based on the temperature and
pressure. Amazingly, they were able to correctly predict it 41% of the time –
which the scientists said was better than random chance. One part of the
research involved rhesus macaque monkeys controlling an avatar arm. In this research, implants were needed to
monitor the brain activity of more than 700 neurons in each of the animals, but
the researchers hope that in future a non-invasive method could be used. This
would open up entirely new avenues, particularly in humans. For example,
neurologically disabled people could share a healthy brain and re-learn
abilities that they may have lost, such as movement in a paralyzed limb. Or,
organic computers could be made by linking brains together. The possibilities
are certainly plentiful, but as this is the first attempt, it may take a while
to see things come to fruition.
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