Monkeys Drive Wheelchairs Using Only Their Thoughts

The BMI uses signals from hundreds of neurons recorded in two regions of the monkeys’ brains that are involved in sensation and movement.

Remarkably as animals think about moving to a goal, which in this case was a bowl of grapes, a computer translate their brain into real-time action of the wheelchair.

Miguel Nicolelis, director for Duke Center for Neuroengineering explained the potential for humans:

"In some severely disabled people, even blinking is not possible.

"For them, using a wheelchair or device controlled by noninvasive measures like an EEG (a device that 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 noninvasive devices."

Scientists began the experiments in 2012, implanting hundreds of hair-thin microfilaments in the premotor and somatosensory regions of the brains of two rhesus macaques.

They trained the animals by passively navigating the chair toward their goal.

During this training phase, the scientists recorded the primates’ large-scale electrical brain activity.

The researchers then programmed a computer system to translate brain signals into digital motor commands that controlled the movements of the wheelchair.

As the monkeys learned to control the wheelchair just by thinking, they became more efficient at navigating toward the grapes and completed the trials faster, Nicolelis said.

Image: A computer in the lab of Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., monitors brain signals from a rhesus macaque. Nicolelis and Duke researchers record signals from hundreds of neurons in two regions of the monkeys’ brains that are involved in movement and sensation. As the animals think about moving toward their goal — in this case, a bowl containing fresh grapes — computers translate their brain activity into real-time operation of a wheelchair. Photo courtsey: Shawn Rocco/ Duke Health