In a series of experiments conducted by Miguel Nicolelis, a neurobiologist at Duke University Medical Center, and his team, the brain of four rats have been connected by implanting microscopic electrodes into their brain cortex. This connection has facilitated the collective intellect of the rodents to solve basic problems and also predict the weather. Miguel Nicolelis quoted in The Guardian, “Essentially, we created a super-brain,” one that worked together to move a prosthetic arm, or alternatively, predict the weather.
Three monkeys were previously subjected to a similar experiment in which, they were placed in separate rooms, with each of their brains connected to a computer. The monkeys could move a prosthetic arm to do the desired function. They even succeeded in doing so, when an additional challenge of each monkey, being allowed to control only one aspect of the movement was introduced.
The rats, the current subjects, started thinking synchronized 61% of the time by the 10th session of training. Nicolelis says, “This is the first demonstration of a shared brain-machine interface, a paradigm that has been translated successfully over the past decades from studies in animals all the way to clinical applications.”
This “superbrain” essentially creates a computing device that could be used to help epilepsy and stroke patients in the future. From monkeys, to rats, to human brains, we are all better off united by wisdom, and by intellect.
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Author:Technology Blog
