Brain cells linked to a Robot

[Joao Carvalho <joao.carvalho@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey folks , how about this :


>From the New York Times.
          June 15, 2000


          Team Links Brain Cells With a Robot

          By DANIEL SORID

             n another triumph of the scientific imagination,
researchers have
             created a fish on wheels. Actually, they took part of the
brain of a
          lamprey, an aquatic parasite, and connected it to a mobile
robot,
          producing what they call an "artificial animal."

          It was the first time, researchers said, that animal brain
cells and a robot
          had communicated in two directions.

          In findings that will be presented at an artificial-life
conference this
          summer, Dr. Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi, an associate professor at the

          Northwestern University Medical School, and a team of
researchers
          from universities in the United States and Italy say that they
were able to
          control the motion of a two-wheeled robot by connecting it to
the brain
          stem of the sea lamprey.

                                     The scientists removed the
lamprey's
                                     brain stem and part of its spinal
cord
                                     and placed them in a salt solution.

                                     Electrodes were then attached to
the
                                     brain stem and connected to the
                                     robot. The lamprey's brain cells
                                     received a signal from light
sensors in
          the robot, and the cells sent signals back to the robot.

          Depending on the placement of the electrode on the brain
tissue, the
          robot moved toward or away from the light, or in a circle.

          The aim of the research is to untangle the mysteries of brain
signals and to
          see how the brain's circuits change and adapt to different
stimuli. The
          method, however, is unquestionably eerie. "It has echoes of a
literary
          kind," Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi admitted.

          Linking a life form and a machine may make some people squirm,
but Dr.
          Mussa-Ivaldi insists that the system may have practical
benefits, like
          better prosthetic devices for humans. "Our goal is not to
construct a
          cyborg," he said. "Our goal is to create a tool that will
hopefully help us
          understand how the brain works."

          Steve Grand, the chief executive of Cyberlife Research, a
British
          research and development company that is trying to create
forms of
          synthetic life, agreed. Mr. Grand said work by Dr.
Mussa-Ivaldi and
          others who study the interactions between living creatures and
machines
          could be justified by its potential benefits.

          "People are sometimes fearful that artificial life research
will reduce us all
          to machines and explain away our souls," he said. "On the
contrary, I
          believe it will give us a new understanding and a new respect
for
          ourselves, as the most sublime machines in the known
universe."
--
Cheers,
Joao Paulo - Salvador,BA,Brazil