Scientists have been experimenting with prostheses controlled by neural implants for many years. Most of the experimentation has involved implanting electrodes into the primary motor cortex, the part of the brain responsible for sending signals to the body parts we wish to control. This approach has proven effective, but produces jittery and unreliable movement of the prosthetic devices.

Researchers at Caltech decided to go a different route by implanting electrodes into the posterior parietal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for deciding how we want to move. Utilizing the new implant site resulted in an astounding improvement in motor controls of the neuroprosthetic arm and hand. “The test subject was able to move the robotic arm using just the part of the brain that controls intent, was able to shake hands, and could even play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ against another person.”

Read more about this breakthrough in the Upworthy article quoted above by clicking here.

Read the research report from Caltech by clicking here.

View the full study in PDF form by clicking here.