Brain Implants Help Paralyzed Monkeys Get a Grip

sciencehabit writes "Spinal cord injuries cause paralysis because they sever crucial communication links between the brain and the muscles that move limbs. A new study with monkeys demonstrates a way to re-establish those connections. By implanting electrodes in a movement control center in the brain and wiring them up to electrodes attached to muscles in the arm, researchers restored movement to monkeys with a temporarily paralyzed hand. The work is the latest promising development in the burgeoning field of neuroprosthetics."

I propose

[busyqth]

I think it would be a more interesting experiment to implant electrodes in one person's brain and wire them up to electrodes in another person's arm.

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[geekoid]

This^

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[Anonymous Coward]

I see busyqth's experiment was a success!

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[Anonymous Coward]

Ever seen the movie "Gamer"?

that movie could of been done better

[Joe_Dragon]

that movie could of been done better and with out the Society part and with a more of a cover up feel as in there was to be no way that they will let him go free.

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[Anonymous Coward]

I propose we investigate who would win in a fight between these monkeys and their cyborg brethren. [bbc.co.uk]

It may seem gratuitous, but think of how this could benefit all the disabled people who in the future will face the tough decision of whether to fight off the encroaching zombie hordes with a biological arm from the flesh vats, or with a prosthetic chainsaw.

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[RemyBR]

And I propose we investigate who'd win a fight between two men whose arms (and legs, maybe) were wired up to implants in eachother's brains.

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[dudpixel]

I lol'd - that made my day. :)

Younger Brothers Revenge

[enickel]

Imagining the hacking opportunities already: “Quit hitting yourself, Quit hitting yourself”

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[Anonymous Coward]

In an amazing turnaround, computer geeks get to bully the muscleheads now!

Great news.

[gstrickler]

Does it work for politicians too? Most of them need to get a grip, and need a brain implant or transplant.

Re:Great news.

[rainmouse]

Does it work for politicians too? Most of them need to get a grip, and need a brain implant or transplant.

Considering it likely the doctors had to first paralyse a large quantity of monkeys, it would be nice if the experiment could be recreated using politicians.

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[mcgrew]

It woudn't work, you have to have a brain to have anything implanted in it.

The researchers soon regretted their actions

[Algae_94]

The monkeys were immediately able to fling shit at them once they regained movement in their hands.

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[Nidi62]

Just hope they weren't also infected. The last thing we need is cyborg Rage monkeys.

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[mcgrew]

Cyborg rage? Is that a reference to a SF work? Because I'm a cyborg. And you'll probably be assimilated too once your natrual stuff starts failing.

Pretty soon he'll be flinging poo

[Ranger]

with the best of them.

neal stephenson's book, interface

[lkcl]

wasn't this basically the premise of "Interface"? when are we gonna get a radio-controlled president? oh wait - that was george bush. how did that work out?

George Bush

[gd2shoe]

Relax. He's no longer president. You can now move on with your life.

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[geekoid]

Too bad we are still suffering from his stupidity and the greed of his party.

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[gd2shoe]

Open your eyes. We are still suffering from the stupidity and greed of both parties.

(They're in nearly equal proportion. People can disagree about which is worse, but it's comparing landfills to sewage treatment; neither odor is agreeable.)

Only Works on Male Monkeys

[xstonedogx]

A pair of implants could inspire me to move my hands again too.

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[stms]

I thought that's what this article was about rehabilitating masterbating monkeys. What else do monkeys need to grip besides uhm... limbs and shit... and shit.

Hacked monkey scifi script?

[AHuxley]

Well, he's not functioning the way he normally does. He seems depressed. He's lost his appetite.
He's even curtailed his autoerotic activities.
And we think this is directly related to the laptop with you the other day.
So, so what do you want me to do?
Well, frankly we'd like you to run some AV.
Yeah, well he hacked me.
Mr. K, he is an innocent primate.

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[EdIII]

Uhhhh.... probably?

I think so. Otherwise, it would be a pretty long wait to find the right paralyzed monkeys for your study.

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[triffid_98]

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4087

I would rather die than have these animals go through that to find ways to save my life. Yes I do argue that we don't have the right to do that to animals, and to back that up I am a vegan.

That's excellent news. By using PETA members in early stage clinical trials we can accelerate our research substantially.

Would you prefer to test the anti-aging drug Rapamycin, the cancer immunotherapy drug VSV-GFP, or this new one I ke

Skullcrusher Mountain

[Petersko]

"I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it, what's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies, maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?""

- Jonathan Coulton, Skullcrusher Mountain

I've posted this before, but since it is so crazy

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

So we find you can control limbs with wires. How long until we control limbs that are wireless? Can a man control 8 robotic arms and be like Dr. Octopus? Can we hook electrodes to our brain, wifi to it, and wifi to a monkey, then we can control a monkey with our minds? All Twilight Zone plot lines aside, this research is really awesome. It gives hope to everyone paralyzed that they'll be able to regain movement again. This is the stuff that money should be thrown at hand over fist.

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[geekoid]

Not soon enough.

How do you find a paralyzed monkey?

[bronney]

Just wondering.

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[Neil Boekend]

A thousands hands on normal length arms connected to a single monkey would resemble a ball.

New tool for the TSA?

[parallel_prankster]

I guess the first use of this technology will be that at security checkpoints we will give ourselves a pat down :)

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[Taibhsear]

I know this is slashdot, but you could at least read the article before the knee-jerk response kicks in.

To test this idea, the researchers injected a nerve-blocking drug to temporarily paralyze one hand and forearm in the monkeys.

They used a drug to temporarily paralyze the hand. They didn't break its spine, they didn't kill it. There was probably a tiny bit of pain and fear, no different from vaccinating a child. Please try to keep things in context.

Well I, for one..

[Sigg3.net]

Well, I for one, welcome our handshaking overlords!