Amputees Can Learn to Control a Robotic Arm with Their Minds
From: ECN Magazine - 11/27/2017

A new study by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago shows how
amputees can learn to control a robotic arm through electrodes implanted in
the brain.

The research, published in Nature Communications, details changes that take
place in both sides of the brain used to control the amputated limb and the
remaining, intact limb. The results show both areas can create new
connections to learn how to control the device, even several years after an
amputation.

Previous experiments have shown how paralyzed human patients can move robotic
limbs through a brain machine interface. The new study is one of the first to
test the viability of these devices in amputees as well.

Now the team plans to continue their work by combining it with research by
other groups to equip neuroprosthetic limbs with sensory feedback about touch
and proprioception, which is the sense of where the limb is located in space.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2017/11/amputees-can-learn-control-robotic-arm-their-minds
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/11/amputees-can-learn-control-robotic-arm-their-minds

Links:
Nicho Hatsopoulos
http://pondside.uchicago.edu/oba/faculty/hatsopoulos_n.html

Hatsopoulos Lab
http://pondside.uchicago.edu/oba/faculty/Hatsopoulos/lab/research.html

Exploring the neuroscience of mind and motion (video 32:45)
https://youtu.be/EuK1c-izuZw

Changes in cortical network connectivity with long-term brain-machine interface
  exposure after chronic amputation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01909-2

Monkeys Master Robotic Arm Tasks Using Their Thoughts
http://www.rehabpub.com/2017/11/tests-using-rhesus-monkeys-demonstrate-controlling-robotic-arm-ones-mind