Connecting Brains with Machines

I have an exciting book recommendation:

Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives (9780805090529): Miguel Nicolelis

This book recommendation goes out to my friends at the Army Research Institute for Behavioral Sciences, my colleagues at the US Army MANPRINT Directorate, and all interested in human-systems integration for performance enhancement or for post-injury rehabilitation.

Dr Nicolelis and his team are completing neurological research in which monkeys are able to control a joystick just by thinking.  That is amazing. They first mapped a monkey's thoughts as she used a joystick to get a juice treat. They then used her brain signals to power a robotic arm in another room. They "tuned" the monkey's brainwaves until the robotic arm copied the monkey's real arm. Then they removed the monkey's joystick, but not her juice treats. They brought the robotic arm and joystick into view. The monkey soon figured out how to move the robotic arm and control the joystick to get a reward, just by thinking.

This research has obvious implications for performance enhancement. Can you imagine an astronaut or a race car driver or a mechanic who is literally "at one" with his tools?

More subtle applications are doubly intriguing: imagine being a quadriplegic, like the late Christopher Reeves, or like so many soldiers and Marines returning from war. And now imagine donning an exoskeleton with robotic arms and legs which respond to signals from your brain.

Fascinating! 

Sex, fire, alcohol, electricity, nuclear power... There are down-sides to every advance. I am sure this technology can be abused in the wrong hands. However, I am hopeful it will be a net benefit to humanity, and the risks will be managed well.

Incidentally, to my animal-loving friends and family, the testing in these experiments was gentle on the subjects. Dr. Nicolelis intends to begin testing on human subjects in 2012. Personally, I think this is a very exciting development.
 

Interview with Dr. Nicolelis on the Diane Rehm Show

Dr. Nicolelis's website (includes a link to his interview with Jon Stewart)