Single Neuron Wired To Muscle Un-Paralyses Monkeys

A pair of paralysed monkeys regained the ability to move their arms after researchers wired individual neurons to the monkeys’ arm muscles. A team of researchers at the University of Washington temporarily paralysed each monkey’s arm, then rerouted brain signals from a single neuron in the motor cortex around the blocked nerve pathway via a computer. When the neuron fired above a certain rate, the computer translated the signal into a jolt of electricity to the arm muscle, causing it to contract. The monkeys practiced moving their arms by playing a video game — via Slashdot