Neural Interfacing Essay -- essays papers

Neural Interfacing In the motion picture â€Å"RoboCop† scientists during a future time implanted a human head into the body of a futuristic robot creating an almost unstoppable police officer. During 1987, when this movie was produced, the idea of man combining with machine was considered pure fantasy. However, advances in technology in the year 2000 and further studies in recent years have proven that this idea may, in time, become a reality. On October 13th 2003, sciencedaily.com in their article, Monkeys Consciously Control A Robot Arm Using Only Brain Signals, reported that researchers of Duke University had successfully taught a monkey to manipulate a robotic arm using only her brain signals and a video display.[1] Though the theory behind the idea of somehow connecting human tissue to electronic devices is relatively simple, the processes needed to create the experiment are very complex. For years scientists have understood that the brain uses small amounts of electrical currents to stimulate specific muscle movements. Some of these scientists then asked if it was possible to create a device that can be controlled simply by reading this electric activity of the brain. Only in recent years were scientists able to place this theory into practice. This amazing scientific accomplishment was made possible by surgically implanting microelectrodes (very small sensors used to measure electric activity in living tissue) into the brains of two monkeys.[2] These microelectrodes were implanted where scientists believe is the greatest amount of complex muscle control, the frontal and parietal regions of the brain. [3] Then different measurements of electric brain activity were recorded from the microelectrodes utilizing a scientifi... ... God and fiddle with God’s creation? This is a very personal question and must be dealt with the by individual alone. Works cited: Better Humans. (2004, February). Snail Brain Merged with Microchip. Retrieved March 31, 2004 from http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-23-4 Science Daily. (2004, March). Human Studies Show Feasibility Of Brain-machine Interfaces. Retrieved March 31, 2004 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040324071203.htm Science Daily. (2003, October). Monkeys Consciously Control A Robot Arm Using Only Brain Signals. Retrieved March 31, 2004 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031013082812.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031013082812.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040324071203.htm http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-02-23-4