Monkeying Around With Mind-Controlled Computing

The idea of mind control over forces beyond our bodily confines still raises eyebrows; but the practice, which has been studied and documented, perhaps is just a lost art in our harried and disconnected modern lives. At least one of our closest living relatives, the rhesus monkey (pictured above), still knows how to move objects with thoughts.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have demonstrated the rhesus monkey's ability to control a computer cursor with their brains, as reported by IEEE Spectrum. The monkeys were able to move the cursor via electrodes attached to their brains — something previously demonstrated — but this recent research also found that the monkeys could remember the task and repeat it again and again:

"The ability to repeat such feats is unprecedented in the field of neuroprosthetics," said the researchers. "It reflects a major finding by the scientists: A monkey's brain is able to develop a motor memory for controlling a virtual device in a manner similar to the way it creates such a memory for the animal's body."

But this research isn't just about sticking wires in the brains of poor, defenseless monkeys — applied to humans (and assuming natural selection hasn't weakened our extra-sensory abilities too much), this discovery could lead to new technologies that enable physically disabled people to control prosthetic limbs or wheelchairs in a more natural and responsive fashion.

Or, it may lead to mind-controlled iPods and PCs that enable us to be even lazier than we already are.

Photo courtesy of Stella Solaris.