Human brain-to-brain connection established : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Human brain-to-brain connection established

WASHINGTON: Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have successfully linked the brains of two people, allowing one person to control the hands of another using just their thoughts.



PTI

WASHINGTON: Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have successfully linked the brains of two people, allowing one person to control the hands of another using just their thoughts.

Researchers from the University of Washington replicated a direct brain-to-brain connection between pairs of people as part of a scientific study following the team's initial demonstration a year ago.

In the new study, which involved six people, researchers were able to transmit the signals from one person's brain over the Internet and use these signals to control the hand motions of another person within a split second of sending that signal.

"The new study brings our brain-to-brain interfacing paradigm from an initial demonstration to something that is closer to a deliverable technology," said co-author Andrea Stocco, a research assistant professor of psychology.

"Now we have replicated our methods and know that they can work reliably with walk-in participants," said Stocco.

The research team led by Rajesh Rao, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering, combined two kinds of noninvasive instruments and fine-tuned software to connect two human brains in real time.

The process is fairly straightforward. One participant is hooked to an electroencephalography machine that reads brain  activity and sends electrical pulses via the Web to the second participant, who is wearing a swim cap with a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil placed near the part of the brain that controls hand movements.

Using this setup, one person can send a command to move the hand of the other by simply thinking about that hand movement.

The study involved three pairs of participants. Each pair included a sender and a receiver with different roles and constraints.

They sat in separate buildings on campus about a half mile apart and were unable to interact with each other in any way - except for the link between their brains.

Each sender was in front of a computer game in which he or she had to defend a city by firing a cannon and intercepting rockets launched by a pirate ship.

But because the senders could not physically interact with the game, the only way they could defend the city was by thinking about moving their hand to fire the cannon.

Top News

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

MEA spokesperson says India is proud of its independent and ...

Bullying Congress culture, no wonder being rejected: PM Modi, backs senior lawyers who flagged attempts to undermine public trust in judiciary

Bullying Congress culture, no wonder being rejected: PM Modi

Backs senior lawyers who flagged attempts to undermine publi...

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Bhatt, who was sacked from the force in 2015, is already beh...


Cities

View All