Researchers at Brown University have successfully harnessed the power of a monkey’s brain to control the movement of a cursor on a computer screen. Three monkeys were taught to play a computer game using a joystick to move the cursor and chase a moving target on the screen. Then a very small, thinly-wired device was implanted into each monkey’s brain. This thumbnail-sized device uses a tiny array of electrodes to record, interpret, and reconstruct brain activity that controls hand movement. After the implants, the monkeys still moved the joysticks with their hands. The joysticks, however, had been completely disconnected, and the monkeys were actually controlling the cursor on the computer screen with their thoughts. The monkey’s brain rather than their hands moved the cursor. Researchers reported that the monkeys’ hands-free cursor control was almost as fast and accurate as the hands-on cursor control.

In past experiments of this nature, implants were bulky; learning to control them was cumbersome. These latest tests proved that implants can be small and easy to operate. The structure of these implants are so miniscule that future devices could easily be wireless.

Perfecting the link between mind and machine with such a system may enable those who cannot move or speak to communicate with the world. Thought-control may also be used to manipulate prosthetics for limbless patients. This concept is now poised to open the world to thousands who are trapped or limited by their own bodies. Such a successful experiment could pave the way to a future when the paralyzed may communicate, send e-mail, write letters, surf the Web, and command computer resources simply by thinking about them.