Prosthetic arm
From: NASA Tech Briefs Insider - 03/03/2005

University of Pittsburgh researchers report that a monkey outfitted with a
child-sized robotic arm controlled directly by its own brain signals was able
to reach for food and feed itself. The signals from its brain are passed
through tiny electrodes, thinner than a human hair, and fed into a specially
designed algorithm that tells the arm how to move. 

Computer software interprets signals picked up by tiny probes inserted into
neuronal pathways in the motor cortex, a brain region where voluntary
movement originates as electrical impulses. The neurons' collective activity
is then fed through the algorithm and sent to the arm, which carries out the
actions the monkey intended to perform with its own limb. 

The prosthesis moves much like a natural arm, with a fully mobile shoulder
and elbow, and a simple gripper that allows the monkey to grasp and hold food
while its own arms are restrained. "The beneficiaries of such technology will
be patients with spinal cord injuries or nervous system disorders such as
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS," said Andrew Schwartz, PhD, professor
of neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 

Links:
Brain Controls Prosthetic Arm in Monkey
http://newsbureau.upmc.com/TX/SchwartzArmResearch2005.htm

Scientists 'reading minds' to discern what's real
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04018/262779.stm

The Brain as User Interface
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/aug02/brainimplants.html

Research Suggests How the Brain Can Misperceive What the Body is Doing 
http://www.whitaker.org/news/schwartz2.html

Device Lets Monkey's Brain Move Robot Arm
http://healthinfo.health-first.org/healthnews/healthday/041026HD522001.htm

Advent of the Robotic Monkeys
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0%2C1294%2C65468%2C00.html

Scientists try to take brain power farther than ever
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_266240.html

Monkey's Brain Runs Robotic Arm
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050218_monkey_arm.html

Connecting Brains to Machines
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s1309383.htm

Brain cells control 3D cursor
http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2002/061202/Brain_cells_control_3D_cursor_061202.html

Brain Power May Give Paralyzed Motion Control
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/project036.html

Matrix Realized
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050129/bob8.asp

Brain controls robot arm in monkey
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/medicine_health/report-40586.html

Thought-Controlled Prosthetics?
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/medicine_health/report-10620.html

News regarding Brain Controlled Devices, Brain Telemetry Innovations
http://www.braincontrolled.com/

The mind may help restore movement to the immobile
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-06/tni-tmm060602.php

Brain-controlled 'robo-arm' hope
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4275245.stm

Scientists 'reading minds' to discern what's real
http://s91149240.onlinehome.us/portal/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=17

Device Lets Monkey's Brain Move Robot Arm
http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/522001/main.html

Unlocking the Paralysis Riddle
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0%2C1294%2C47780%2C00.html

Neural Prosthesis Allows Monkey to Feed Itself Using Signals from Its Brain
http://www.discover.pitt.edu/media/pcc041101/monkeyshines.html

Monkey thinks robotic arm into action
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6989239