Monkeys reverse phantom limb phenomenon

The fact that monkeys can control a mechanical arm with just brain waves has many different implications:

In the experiment, two macaques first used a joystick to gain a feel for the arm, which had shoulder joints, an elbow and a grasping claw with two mechanical fingers.

Then, just beneath the monkeys’ skulls, the scientists implanted a grid about the size of a large freckle. … The grid held 100 tiny electrodes, each connecting to a single neuron, its wires running out of the brain and to a computer.

The scientists used the computer to help the monkeys move the arm at first, essentially teaching them with biofeedback. After several days, the monkeys needed no help.

Eventually, the macaques got to the point of doing what the scientists called “freelancing.”

Researchers said they saw:

“Displays of embodiment that would never be seen in a virtual environment.”

First, this obviously underscores the materialist approach to the human mind, and the animal mind.

Second, the “freelancing” raises new questions about intentionality in animals, as well as self-reference and self-concept lessons.

Plus, the obvious fun they were having brings animal emotions to sharper focus, despite many evolutionary biologists’ desire to avoid that subject.