UW uses Internet to connect human brains

A researcher at the University of Washington was able to transmit signals from his brain across campus to cause a colleague's fingers to move earlier this month, according to an article in yesterday's Seattle Times. The scientists believe it's the first time two human brains have been directly connected via the Internet. "Several neuroscientists dismissed the experiment as little more than a publicity stunt, but...one of the goals was to demonstrate it's possible to meld minds in a very rudimentary way using what are now standard tools," The Times reported.The research developed out of Professor Rajesh Rao's work with brain-computer interfaces allowing paralyzed people to control devices with their thoughts. Similar experiments have been conducted at Duke and Harvard universities, but those studies involved invasive probes into lab rats' brains. The UW experiment utilized electrode-studded caps. Other neuroscientists remain unimpressed though, warning that the hype created around this project may lead to a false sense of progress for patients in addition to "unwarranted fear that scientists are working toward 'mind control'." Rao said that this first set of experiments were "simply a proof-of-principle," and that more extensive experiments are planned.