The study by the University of Chicago marks an important step toward new technology that would increase the dexterity and clinical viability of robotic prosthetic limbs.

"To restore sensory motor function of an arm, you not only have to replace the motor signals that the brain sends to the arm to move it around, but you also have to replace the sensory signals that the arm sends back to the brain," said the study's senior author, Sliman Bensmaia.

In a series of experiments with monkeys, whose sensory systems closely resemble those of humans, researchers identified patterns of neural activity that occur during natural object manipulation and then successfully induced these patterns through artificial means.

Researchers then connected electrodes to areas of the brain corresponding to each finger and replaced physical touches with electrical stimuli delivered to the appropriate areas of the brain. The animals responded the same way to artificial stimulation as they did to physical contact.

The researchers then developed an algorithm to generate the appropriate amount of electrical current to elicit a sensation of pressure.
The animals' response was the same whether the stimuli were felt through their fingers or through artificial means.




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