China creates mind-controlled cyborg rats

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Researchers at Zhejiang University published a paper titled “Human Mind Control of Rat Cyborg’s Continuous Locomotion with Wireless Brain-to-Brain Interface” this month, wherein they revealed that they’d succeeded in controlling rats with the power of human thought.

In the paper, the authors explain that brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) already allow humans to control external devices with their minds in various ways—mind-controlled prosthetics are one example. 

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To conduct the experiment, researchers implanted microelectrodes into the brain of a living rat—thus rendering it a “rat cyborg”—and connected it to the brain of a human “manipulator” who was hooked up to a computer BMI. Movement-related thoughts in the mind of the manipulator sent signals to the computer, which then translated those signals into instructions and sent them to the brain of the rat. Between the manipulator, the BMI, and the rat cyborg, a BBI was created.

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When the human manipulator thought about moving their left arm, the rat was commanded to turn left; when they thought about moving their right arm, the rat would turn right; while blinking sent signals that commanded the rat cyborg to move forward. Discover Magazine notes that the mazes the rat was forced to navigate became increasingly complex: from just a few tubes in the first instance, to more complicated structures that had tight turns, multiple levels, and a specific prescribed path. Over time, the six rat cyborgs used in the study reportedly became more proficient at navigating the maze, and “a tacit understanding [developed] between the human and the rat cyborg.”

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It’s worth pointing out that rats aren’t the first animal to be turned into a mind-controlled cyborg, though. Recently, a BBI was used to implement motion control of a cockroach cyborg and steer it around an S-shaped track. In the future, the Zheijang researchers hope that “information flow will be made bidirectional and communicative between two human individuals.”

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“The holy grail of BBI would be sharing rich content that cannot be better expressed in words, such as emotions and feelings,” he told Discover. “We are still so far from that, but, of course, that would be the dream.”

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