Researchers at Southeast University in Jiangsu province used high technology to enable one frog in Beijing to control the actions of another one in Nanjing, which sounds like the plot of James Cameron’s sci-fi hit Avatar, the Jiangsu-based Jiangnan Times said.
Wang Zhigong, head of the Institute of RF- & OE-ICs (IROI) at the university, said they placed micro-electrodes in the brain of a frog in Beijing, while a sedated frog had electrodes wired to its hip nerve.
When the frog in Beijing drew back its left leg in response to external stimuli, its brain activity was decoded, converted into electronic signals and transmitted to Nanjing, nearly 1,000 kilometers away.
Researchers in Nanjing received the signal and converted it back into a neural signal, causing the frog to make the same movement. Such technology has been applied to clinical trials, Wang said, adding it has enabled more than 10 paralyzed patients to “move.”
“The patient who is paralyzed on one side can use the healthy side of the body to control the paralyzed side, or paralyzed patients can be moved by families who serve as ‘puppet-masters’.”
“Our aim is to allow paralyzed individuals to control movement of their own limbs,” he said.
Neuroscientists from Harvard University have put a whole new spin on the age-old saying, “Monkey see, monkey do,” after their brain implants allowed one monkey to control the actions of another monkey, according to foreign media last month.
