Most of us have seen the Predator movie series and at one or the other point of time, most of us have envisaged of having the power of detecting the heat signatures of someone. Seems like; this bizarre and sci-fi dream of ours, can finally come true. There is a possibility that soon humans could also be able to see infrared light. Scientists at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina have used brain implants to give rats a ‘sixth sense’ that enables them to detect and react to the normally invisible infrared light source.

The researchers believe that it is even possible to attach sensors for other forms of light like Ultraviolet, microwaves and even x-rays using these brain implants.

For the study, the scientists implanted four clusters of electrodes into a part of the brain responsible for whisker sensation in rats. Each of this cluster was connected to a sensor that converted infrared light into an electrical signal. Tests were conducted to show that the rats with the implants were able to see infrared light. When one sensor was used, the rats took a month to adapt to the signals their brains were receiving.

This allowed them to detect an infrared light above a feeding station and press a button beneath it. Interestingly when these rats were given four sensors, they were able to do all these things in just four days.

Dr Miguel Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, who led the work, said the study demonstrated the ability of the mammalian brain to adapt. Dr. Nicolelis now hopes to conduct further experiments with multiple parts of the light spectrum using visual and infrared light at the same time. Infrared light is currently used by military and police forces using night vision equipment and to track suspects in heavy foliage as it is often given off as heat.

Though the idea of seeing the infrared light seems exciting enough, the researchers opine that their work will have applications in the medical world only, initially.

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Author: Technology and Beyond