Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Scientists at the University of Washington have given new meaning to the term “meeting of the minds” as they have been able to establish the first-ever brain-to-brain connection, according to a new study in the journal PLOS ONE.
The UW researchers were able to successfully send signals from one person’s brain via the internet to another person, and use these impulses to manipulate the hand motions of the receiver within less than a second of transmitting the signal.
“The new study brings our brain-to-brain interfacing paradigm from an initial demonstration to something that is closer to a deliverable technology,” said co-author Andrea Stocco, a researcher at UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. “Now we have replicated our methods and know that they can work reliably with walk-in participants.”
Image Above: In this photo, UW students Darby Losey, left, and Jose Ceballos are positioned in two different buildings on campus as they would be during a brain-to-brain interface demonstration. The sender, left, thinks about firing a cannon at various points throughout a computer game. That signal is sent over the Web directly to the brain of the receiver, right, whose hand hits a touchpad to fire the cannon. Credit: Mary Levin, U of Wash.
The UW system is comprised of two types of noninvasive instruments and fine-tuned computer software which links two human minds in real time. The procedure is fairly uncomplicated, with one individual connected to an electroencephalography machine that scans brain activity and sends electric impulses using the internet. A second individual receives the signal via a specialized swimming cap outfitted with a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil placed close to the part of the head that manages hand motions.
[ Watch the Video: Brain-To-Brain Interface Demonstration ]
In the study, researchers paired two participants, one sender and one receiver, with different roles and limitations. Participants sat in separate complexes on campus approximately one half mile apart and were not able to communicate with each other in any way, aside from the web link between their brains.
Each sender was shown a video game in which they had to protect a city by shooting a cannon at intercepting missiles fired by a pirate ship. However, the senders were not able to physically interact with the game. The only way they could protect the city was by thinking about moving their fingers and hand to shoot the cannon with a controller.
On the other side of campus, each receiver sat wearing headsets in a dimly-lit room – without the capacity to see the video game and with their right hand placed over the touchpad controller that could fire the cannon in the video game. If the brain link-up was successful, the receiver’s hand would flinch, pushing the touchpad and firing the cannon, which would then be shown on the sender’s monitor.
While the scientists saw that consistency varied between 25 to 83 percent accuracy, misses mostly were a result of the sender neglecting to precisely execute the thought to transmit the “fire” command. The scientists also had the ability to determine the exact quantity of data that was moved between the two brains.
The study team said they plan to broaden the kinds of data that can be sent from brain to brain, including more complicated concepts, thoughts and rules.
“Imagine someone who’s a brilliant scientist but not a brilliant teacher. Complex knowledge is hard to explain – we’re limited by language,” said co-author Chantel Prat, a faculty member at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences and a UW assistant professor of psychology.
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