Who’s to say you even -have- to find the correct group of nerves to monitor? What if our brain is able to learn to fire the correct neuronal groups to correspond with any devices we attach to it?

You hit the nail on the head and struck a nerve. That’s exactly how this works: The software is learns to detect a certain neuronal firing pattern which corresponds to a mental state or visualization the monkeys are trained to produce.

This could, for example, be a visualization of a leg move—or one of a cow being milked by Mickey Mouse in a penguin suit. All that matters is that a pattern can be generated without too much noise, loss of focus, drifting mind, etc. That pattern can theoretically be associated with any command—a keyboard key of your choice or your DeLorean’s fuel injector.

Emotiv’s EPOC headset for consumers uses a similar approach; it’s a must-see for anyone interested in BCIs!

This could prove to be really huge. Who’s to say you even -have- to find the correct group of nerves to monitor? What if our brain is able to learn to fire the correct neuronal groups to correspond with any devices we attach to it? You could learn to control much more than just robotic arms and legs at will.

Beacuse the film of a monkey with wires coming out of it’s head might disturb sensitive people enough that they wouldn’t be able to get past it and see how incredible this development is.