Featured·February 21, 2013·5 min readResearchers Build Robotic Bat WingBuilding a robotic bat wing, researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats: the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstroke and downstroke.Read More
Featured·February 8, 2013·3 min readResearchers Describe Technology that Lets Spinal Cord Injured Man Control Robot Arm with ThoughtsResearchers describe how an electrode array sitting on top of the brain enabled a 30-year-old paralyzed man to control the movement of a character on a computer screen in three dimensions with just his thoughts. It also enabled him to move a robot arm to touch a friend’s hand for the first time in the seven years.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·January 23, 2013·3 min readNew Brain Circuit Sheds Light on Development of Voluntary MovementsA research team describes the entire network of brain cells that are connected to specific motor neurons controlling whisker muscles in newborn mice. A better understanding of such motor control circuits could help inform how human brains develop, potentially leading to new ways of restoring movement in people who suffer paralysis from brain injuries, or to the development of better prosthetics for limb replacement.Read More
ElectrophysiologyFeaturedNeuroscience·September 14, 2012·3 min readScientists Use Prosthetic Device to Restore and Improve Impaired Decision Making Ability in AnimalsScientists used an electronic prosthetic system to tap into existing circuitry in the brain at the cellular level and record the firing patterns of multiple neurons in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in decision-making. They then “played” that recording back to the same brain area to electrically stimulate decision-based neural activity. Not only did it restore function, in some cases, it also improved it.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience Videos·June 1, 2012·4 min readWalking Again After Spinal Cord InjuryNeuroprosthetics and robot rehabilitation wake up the ‘spinal brain’ and restore voluntary movement. Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe...Read More
Electrophysiology·April 20, 2012·3 min readNew Brain-Machine Interface Moves a Paralyzed HandNew technology bypasses spinal cord and delivers electrical signals from brain directly to muscles. A new Northwestern Medicine brain-machine technology...Read More
Artificial Intelligencebrain machine interfacesneural controlneural interfaceneural prostheticsneurobiologyNeuroboticsneuroprostheticsneuroscience researchRoboticssciencetechnology·February 28, 2012·2 min readHow to Control a Prosthesis with Your MindNew brain-machine interfaces that exploit the plasticity of the brain may allow people to control prosthetic devices in a natural...Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience Videos·July 27, 2011·3 min readResearchers Aim for Direct Brain Control of Prosthetic ArmsEngineers work to design prosthetic arm that allows amputees to feel what they touch. Engineering researchers at four U.S. universities...Read More
