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Duke University neuroscientists have linked the brains of three rhesus macaque monkeys together using a brain-to-brain interface:
The neural network created, which the researchers call a 'Brainet', lets the animals share both sensory and motor information with one another, enabling them to complete tasks via their collective thoughts. This means they could potentially outperform a regular brain, because they now have access to the resources of a hive mind.
"Essentially, we created a super-brain," Miguel Nicolelis, the lead author of the study, told Hannah Devlin at The Guardian. "A collective brain created from three monkey brains. Nobody has ever done that before."
In the monkeys experiment, the researchers wired together three rhesus macaque monkeys and implanted receptors in their motor and somatosensory cortices to capture and transmit the brain activity. Once connected, the three monkeys were able to control the movements of a virtual avatar's arm on a computer screen in front of them. Each monkey had control over only two dimensions of movement, requiring the concentration of at least two of the three animals to successfully move the arm.
A separate experiment linked four rat brains together. From the abstract:
Cortical neuronal activity was recorded and analyzed in real time, and then delivered to the somatosensory cortices of other animals that participated in the Brainet using intracortical microstimulation (ICMS). Using this approach, different Brainet architectures solved a number of useful computational problems, such as discrete classification, image processing, storage and retrieval of tactile information, and even weather forecasting. Brainets consistently performed at the same or higher levels than single rats in these tasks. Based on these findings, we propose that Brainets could be used to investigate animal social behaviors as well as a test bed for exploring the properties and potential applications of organic computers.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 11 2015, @03:17PM
"Simple video games" and "military connotations". Why are these bad?
"Simple video games" with a virtual avatar seem like a useful way to meet the study's goals of testing "visual discrimination, motor performance, and decision making".
It's also a term used in other studies [nih.gov] of eye movement and the brain, or astronomy [not.iac.es]. Do you prefer "overt visual search"? Notice that both of these studies were funded by the NIH and not the military.
See my other comment. [soylentnews.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 11 2015, @05:33PM
Notice that both of these studies were funded by the NIH and not the military.
Chuckle. Ah, the Naivety!
So quaint and cute in this day and age.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 11 2015, @05:47PM
Yeh sure, I'm the naïve one for not 1.) making stuff up, and 2.) conjuring animal rights out of thin air.
Will the military link drones and humans with brainet technology? Maybe. It's overkill and a waste of money, and it probably won't be used domestically. Worry about what the CIA will use it for if anything.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 11 2015, @06:38PM
You might be just a little more skeptical about why the NIH would be involved in this study, and not so convinced that WHO funds the study has anything at all to do with where the money really comes from, or where the science really goes.
Flying Military Drone strike missions all over the world out of Creech was thought to be too expensive and overkill as well. VR helmets weren't invented for gamers.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.