Credit: Shawn Rocco/ Duke Health
A computer in the lab of Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., monitors brain signals from a rhesus macaque. Nicolelis and Duke researchers record signals from hundreds of neurons in two regions of the monkeys’ brains that are involved in movement and sensation. As the animals think about moving toward their goal -- in this case, a bowl containing fresh grapes -- computers translate their brain activity into real-time operation of a wheelchair.