Scientists create remote-controlled rats

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, May 1, 2002

By Robert Hotz

Los Angeles Times

Transmitting wireless signals directly into the brain, a group of scientists has produced the ultimate lab rat — an animal that can be guided by remote control over fences, up trees, through pipes and across rubble at distances up to a third of a mile.

The researchers, from the State University of New York and Drexel University, say their work with brain implants ultimately could produce robotic rats that could be used for rescue missions, video surveillance or detecting explosives.

The researchers implanted electrical probes in parts of the brain that affect what the animal senses and how it behaves. They then trained the animals to respond to impulses sent through the implants. Once trained, the animals could be readily controlled by an operator with a laptop computer transmitting to a small backpack receiver worn by each rat.

"We developed a way to create seemingly complex behaviors in animals by generating cues and rewards," said lead researcher Sanjiv Talwar at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City. "The rats could almost understand what you wanted them to do."

The work, published today in the journal Nature, amazed researchers who work in the field of mind-machine interactions. But, scientists acknowledge, many people may find such remote brain control disturbing.

The drive behind the research is a humanitarian one — finding better ways to build artificial limbs and other prosthetics that could communicate fully with nerves. Nonetheless, "You would want to be careful how far you took this kind of research," said Richard Andersen, a neural expert at the California Institute of Technology. "The implications are a little scary."

The brain stimulation technique used to condition the laboratory rats could almost certainly work in other species, including humans, said Paul Glimcher, an expert at New York University on the neurobiology of decision-making.

"That is what is so disturbing about it," Glimcher said. "It is clearly a technique that if applied to humans would have huge legal, moral and ethical ramifications. That raises real questions about whether a technology of this type could be used to undermine the autonomy of an individual decision-maker."

Until now, scientists have only been listening to the electrical signals generated by brain cells. They are able to decipher the brain’s output and use it to activate machines.

Several laboratories have used brain cell activity from rats and monkeys to control robotic arms, even when the device — connected through the Internet — is hundreds of miles away. Last month, researchers at Brown University successfully wired a monkey to a computer so its mental activity could move a cursor.

With this latest accomplishment, scientists are talking back directly to brain cells.

The scientists steered the rats by activating the whisker centers, creating the sensation of a touch on one side or the other. Sending signals to the brain’s reward center reinforced correct behavior.

The rodents could even be commanded to overcome their natural caution and venture into brightly lit, open areas they normally would avoid.

"In some real sense, they have produced a computer bridle," Glimcher said. "Instead of a whip and carrot, they use direct activation of the learning circuit in the brain itself, which is pretty cool."