Putting touch into action

Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces boost movement restoration in a paralyzed user Human tactile senses maintain contact with the environment and are essential for the ability to manipulate objects dexterously ( 1 ). People suffering from upper spinal cord injuries, nerve injuries, and other form...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2021-05, Vol.372 (6544), p.791-792
Main Author: Faisal, A Aldo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arm
Brain
Brain injury
Electric contacts
Feedback
Human motion
Injuries
Muscles
Paralysis
Robot arms
Robot control
Sensory feedback
Spinal cord injuries
Touch
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Description
Summary:Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces boost movement restoration in a paralyzed user Human tactile senses maintain contact with the environment and are essential for the ability to manipulate objects dexterously ( 1 ). People suffering from upper spinal cord injuries, nerve injuries, and other forms of arm paralysis lose the ability not only to move their hand but also to feel with their fingers. Over the past decades, brain-machine interfacing has achieved the ability to read out action intentions from the human brain and restore movement by enabling paralyzed patients to control robotic arms ( 2 ) or to electrically stimulate muscles so paralyzed arms can move again ( 3 ). It is commonly assumed that this needs to be complemented with restoring sensory feedback. On page 831 of this issue, Flesher et al. ( 4 ) demonstrate a substantial practical benefit for a paralyzed patient whose ability to manipulate objects through a brain-controlled robotic arm was substantially increased through artificial tactile feedback.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.abi7262