Photo: Brain signals propel robot

A robot in Kyoto, Japan, mimics a monkey walking on a treadmill (background) in North Carolina last week. Neuroscientist Miguel A. L. Nicolelis at Duke University says it is the first time that brain signals have been used to make a robot walk.

Via a high-speed Internet connection from Duke University, electrical impulses in the monkey's brain were transmitted to the robot, directing it to mimic the monkey's motion. The experiment was conducted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency and Duke University. Mitsuo Kawato, seen here with the robot known as CB (Computational Brain), is a senior member of the Japanese research team.

Nicolelis said someday a brain machine interface might enable paralyzed people to walk.

"We have shown that you can take signals across the planet in the same time scale that a biological system works," Nicolelis told The New York Times. "Here the target happens to be a robot. It could be a crane. Or any tool of any size or magnitude. The body does not have a monopoly for enacting the desires of the brain."