Monkeys play computer games with their minds

Two rhesus monkeys learned to operate a virtual arm with their brain power and were able to differentiate between the textures of virtual objects they were "feeling".

It is hoped this could pave the way for the development of a ''robotic exoskeleton'' to be worn by severely paralysed people, helping them move and experience the world around them using brainwaves.

Miguel Nicolelis, co-director of the Duke University Centre for Neuroengineering in Durham, North Carolina, said: ''Someday in the near future, quadriplegic patients will take advantage of this technology not only to move their arms and hands and to walk again, but also to sense the texture of objects placed in their hands, or experience the nuances of the terrain on which they stroll with the help of a wearable robotic exoskeleton.''

The electrical brain activity of the two rhesus monkeys trained at the centre was used to direct the hands of a virtual monkey shown on a screen - without them moving any part of their real bodies.

The virtual hands were then used to explore the surface of three virtual objects, which looked the same but had been designed to have different textures, which were expressed as tiny electrical signals sent back to the monkeys' brains.

In the task, the monkeys had to search for a virtual object with a particular texture and were rewarded with fruit juice if they correctly identified it.

Professor Nicolelis said the study, published in the journal Nature, gave hope to people with spinal cord lesions because feedback on textures took place without any movement of the monkey's body.

He said: ''We hope that in the next few years this technology could help to restore a more autonomous life to many patients who are currently locked in without being able to move or experience any tactile sensation of the surrounding world.

''This is also the first time we've observed a brain controlling a virtual arm that explores objects while the brain simultaneously receives electrical feedback signals that describe the fine texture of objects 'touched' by the monkey's newly acquired virtual hand.

''Such an interaction between the brain and a virtual avatar was totally independent of the animal's real body, because the animals did not move their real arms and hands, nor did they use their real skin to touch the objects and identify their texture.

''It's almost like creating a new sensory channel through which the brain can resume processing information that cannot reach it anymore through the real body and peripheral nerves.''

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