Neurochip acts as a second motor cortex

Haven't you ever wished that you had a second motor cortex? If you've suffered a brain injury of some kind, you just might. For the last few years, researchers at the University of Washington have designed and installed a special computer chip attached to the top of monkeys' heads to record the brain's motor cortex nerve signals. This computer chip, dubbed the Neurochip, creates a brain-computer interface that records every movement sent from the motor cortex to the rest of the monkeys' bodies. Then the Neurochip converts those signals into a stimulus that can be fed back to the brain, creating new neural pathways that theoretically could be used if the motor cortex was damaged in some way. We've still got a few questions, like exactly how this happens, how big physically this interface is, and when we should expect human trials. Of course, we've seen previous brain-computer interfaces before, but this one seems a bit more practical than strapping your head to some type of computer. The team published its results in the November 2, 2006 issue of Nature.

[jdw @ Oct 25th 2006 7:40AM]

I for one welcome our neurochip implanting overlords.

I had to get it out of the way.

[Mark @ Oct 25th 2006 8:13AM]

does this mean i will finally be able to own my very own remote controlled monkey?

[derrick @ Oct 25th 2006 8:48AM]

There's a really cool company, Cyberkinetics (www.cyberkineticsinc.com), that does a lot with neural/electrical interfaces and mobility. They seemed to have made quite a few big strides in the past few years. I follow them a bit since I'm mostly blind in one eye and await the day when I can replace it with a super nifty IR/UV/nitevision/superzoom cybernetic model.

[Matt B @ Oct 25th 2006 9:22AM]

I'm pulling for you Derrick! That would be great if you got your full vision back, plus some superhuman additions.

[zoara @ Oct 25th 2006 9:28AM]

I, for one, will welcome Derrick as our new cyber-visioned overlord.

[figgy @ Oct 25th 2006 9:51AM]

Did anyone ask the monkeys if it was alright to drill holes into their heads?
How would you like that?

[James @ Oct 25th 2006 10:43AM]

Actually I would love extra holes in my head. I'm just trying to do it without damaging my ravashing good looks and without shaving. Also I need my frontal lobe so going in through the temples or forehead is right out.

[Ryan @ Oct 25th 2006 11:25AM]

Did anyone trademark the word "NeuroChimp"?

[Mike @ Oct 25th 2006 2:25PM]

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I don't think I can say anything more about it.

Figgy - when you consider how many people this technology could help, I think it's silly to question how the monkey feels about it. If it were my call, and I had to make a choice between people and monkeys, I'm sorry to say but people win every time. I think you'd feel the same way, too, if someone you know and love found themselves with an irrepairable brain injury one day. Think about it...

[Anubis @ Oct 25th 2006 5:03PM]

Figgy,

So, you're implying it's perfectly okay to stall medical research in the name of animal activism even though the implications of such research can greatly improve or maintain the quality of life for several hundred thousand people a few years down the road? I hate to burst your bubble, but most advances in medicine have come at the expense of some animal life. It is a necessary evil. Thanks to the use of monkeys, men and women who have lost both arms through no fault of their own can now lead normal lives; a motor-cortex chip that was developed and perfected by using a monkey for research has just recently enabled a dual-amputee to paint his house and feed himself. Pig hearts are used as stop-gap solutions in prolonging the lives of people who are in desperate need of heart transplants but are far too ill to survive the wait needed to procure them. Does a pig ask to be sacrificed? No, but a six year old child doesn't ask to die because he has an irreperable hole in his heart. I'm sure that, god forbid the situation ever arise, if your ability to move requires the neurochip the article above mentions, you won't refuse to have it implanted because an ape had to play pong on a screen while using its prototype 10 years earlier.