October 16, 2008

Brain interface controls muscles

It may not be long before a simple computerized connector that acts as a conduit between the brain and muscles, could in time help to restore movement to paralysed limbs. This discovery could have so many people queuing up for this treatment as it has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of serious injuries.

The researchers paralysed an apes arm temporally and yet by introducing this brain computer interface, the ape was still able to move its wrist, because its brain was sending the electrical impulses to the muscles as normal, but they were redirected through the interface and received by the muscles, which control the wrist.

Although this is going to be more than ten years away from a practical application, but if this is a good as they say it is, an application such as this could change thousands of lives for the better.

Source [Io9]