Three monkeys' brains connected to make a mind-melded computer

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For the first time, a team has networked the brains of multiple animals to form a living computer that can perform tasks and solve problems. If human brains could be similarly connected, it might give us superhuman problem-solving abilities, and allow us to communicate abstract thoughts and experiences. "It is really exciting," says Iyad Rahwan at the Masdar Institute in Dubai, UAE, who was not involved in the work. "It will change the way humans cooperate."

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The team connected the brains of three monkeys to a computer that controlled an animated screen image representing a robotic arm, placing electrodes into brain areas involved in movement. By synchronising their thoughts, the monkeys were able to move the arm to reach a target – at which point the team rewarded them with with juice.

Then the team made things trickier: each monkey could only control the arm in one dimension, for example. But the monkeys still managed to make the arm reach the target by working together. "They synchronise their brains and they achieve the task by creating a superbrain – a structure that is the combination of three brains," says Nicolelis. He calls the structure a "brainet".

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Things could get even more interesting once we are able to connect human brains. This will probably only be possible when better non-invasive methods for monitoringMovie Camera and stimulating the brain have been developed.

"Once brains are connected, applications become just a matter of what different animals can do," says Stocco. All anyone can probably ask of a monkey is to control movement, but we can expect much more from human minds, he says.

A device that allows information transfer between brains could, in theory, allow us to do away with language – which plays the role of a "cumbersome and difficult-to-manage symbolic code", Stocco says.

"I could send thoughts from my brain to your brain in a way not represented by sounds or words," says Andrew Jackson at Newcastle University, UK. "You could envisage a world where if I wanted to say 'let's go to the pub', I could send that thought to your brain," he says. "Although I don't know if anyone would want that. I would rather link my brain to Wikipedia."

The ability to share abstract thoughts could enable us to solve more complex problems. "Sometimes it's really hard to collaborate if you are a mathematician and you're thinking about very complex and abstract objects," says Stocco. "If you could collaboratively solve common problems [using a brainet], it would be a way to leverage the skills of different individuals for a common goal."

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