Monkeys manoeuvre wheelchairs with thoughts

The BMI is said to use signals from hundreds of neurons recorded simultaneously in two regions of the monkeys’ brains that are involved in movement and sensation. As the animals think about moving toward their goal -- a bowl containing grapes -- computers translate their brain activity into real-time operation of the wheelchair.

The interface, developed at Duke Health in North Carolina and described in Scientific Reports, demonstrates the future potential for people with disabilities who have lost most muscle control and mobility due to quadriplegia or ALS, said senior author Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., co-director for the Duke Center for Neuroengineering.

“In some severely disabled people, even blinking is not possible,” Nicolelis said. “For them, using a wheelchair or device controlled by non-invasive measures like an EEG [which monitors brain waves through electrodes on the scalp] may not be sufficient. We show clearly that if you have intracranial implants, you get better control of a wheelchair than with non-invasive devices.”