Chinese researchers claim monkey brain advance after moving robotic arm with its mind

A team of Chinese researchers claim to have successfully conducted an experiment that allowed a monkey to move a robotic arm using its mind.

They said the experiment marked a significant advance in brain science and could pave the way for further developments that could help people with physical disabilities to interact with external devices and improve their quality of life, South China Morning Post reports.

The research has not been peer-reviewed and the claims – which cannot be verified independently – appeared in a statement on the university’s website.

The team said they used brain-computer interface technology, which is a way for humans to control computers or external devices using their brain’s electrical signals.

During the experiment on May 4, the monkey was held in place in a container and could catch food by commanding the robotic arm.

It works by using sensors that detect and capture brain activity and then convert those signals into commands that can control an external device, such as a computer cursor or a robotic arm.

They used a non-invasive technique, which means the brain does not have to be pierced and described it as the world’s first interventional BCI experiment on non-human primates.

Duan Feng, the team leader and a professor at Nankai University’s college of artificial intelligence, said the researchers inserted a stent into the animal’s jugular vein, from where it travelled into the brain’s motor cortex, the area that controls bodily movement.

An electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor was placed on the stent that could record the brain activity. Once in place, the sensor captured electrical signals from the brain and sent them to a transmitter embedded near the neck which was connected to external devices.

Duan said the stent stayed in the monkey’s brain to observe changes in the animal’s behaviour as well as the impact on its brain and body.

The team also claims that last year they used the same method to successfully collect strong and clear electrical signals from a goat’s brain.

Currently, there are several types of brain-computer interface technology. One is Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which has developed and inserted wireless artificial intelligence microchips into the brains of monkeys.

But this surgery requires the skull to be opened to implant the device, which may raise the risk of infection and tissue damage.

Last year Reuters reported that Neuralink had failed to secure permission from the FDA to run a human trial of its implantable BCI technology.

Another technique is a non-invasive BCI, which records activity from electrodes placed on the brain, but the signal is not stable in the long term, according to Duan.

“The interventional BCI technology has a much clear signal and at the same time, it is less harmful to people,” he said, adding that his team was preparing for a clinical trial.

Synchron, a New York-based company developing brain-computer interfaces, has already used similar technology on several patients in Australia and the United States.

A clinical trial found the company’s brain implant was effective for long-term use in patients with severe paralysis.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Neurology in January, the researchers said the safety and feasibility data from the study indicated that “it is possible to record neural signals from a blood vessel.”

None of the four patients had serious adverse events and were able to use the device for digital activities, including texting, emailing, online shopping and communicating with others.