Monkey think, robotic monkey arm do
Scientists train monkeys to control robotic arm with thoughts
If these monkeys were 1970s TV stars, they would play crime-fighting cyborgs in “The Six Million Dollar Monkeys.”
![Think before you eat: Electrodes implanted into this monkey's brain enabled the monkey to control a robotic arm with its thoughts, reaching out for pieces of food and putting that food in its mouth.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/7989.jpg?resize=300%2C198&ssl=1)
Macaque monkeys with electrodes implanted in their brains learned to control a robotic arm with their thoughts, researchers report.
Scientists gently restrained the monkeys’ own arms and positioned the mechanical arm at each animal’s left shoulder as if it were a real arm. After practicing for several days, the monkeys appeared to treat the robotic arm as their own and could feed themselves with the arm using fluid, rapid motions.