Scientific Experiment Reveals How the Brain Controls Others' Arms

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The brain is an amazing and complex organ, and while many people are fascinated by the brain, they can't really tell you that much about how the brain works because neuroscience is rarely taught in schools. One major reason for this is that the equipment needed to study the brain is extremely complex and expensive, making it accessible only at large universities and specialized institutions. To gain hands-on experience, one must dedicate years of study. For example, it took over six years for a graduate student to become proficient in neuroscience and gain access to this specialized equipment. This is unfortunate because neurological disorders affect about 20% of the population, yet there are no cures for many of these diseases. To address this gap, introducing neuroscience concepts early in education could inspire future brain scientists.

As a graduate student, I collaborated with my lab mate, Tim Marzulo, to simplify neuroscience research tools so that even amateurs or high school students could participate in experiments. We founded a company called Backyard Brains, producing DIY neuroscience equipment that makes hands-on exploration possible. In a demonstration, I asked a volunteer, Sam, to roll up his sleeve so we could place electrodes on his arm. Although I said I would record from his brain, these electrodes allow us to capture electrical signals that travel from the brain's motor cortex down through the spinal cord and into the muscles. By doing so, we can literally listen to the motor units in action as the brain instructs the arm to move.

Turning on the device, we asked Sam to squeeze his hand while observing the motor units' activity in real time. Each movement generates electrical discharges along the neural pathway from the brain to the muscles. This demonstration shows the precise coordination between the brain's neurons and muscle responses. By analyzing these signals using our app, we could see and understand how motor units in the spinal cord and muscles interact, providing a direct window into the brain's control mechanisms over the body. Such hands-on experiences help demystify complex neuroscience concepts and make learning both practical and engaging.

We then invited another volunteer, Miguel, to illustrate an even more fascinating phenomenon. By stimulating a nerve in the arm, we can essentially copy the brain's signal and transmit it to someone else's hand. This process allows one person's brain to control another person's arm movement, temporarily overriding the subject's voluntary control. Miguel's hand moved in response to Sam's brain activity, showing that electrical signals can be externally relayed to induce motion. While it feels unusual for participants to temporarily lose voluntary control, this demonstration highlights the potential of neurotechnology to manipulate motor responses safely and reversibly.

Finally, these experiments demonstrate the power of electrophysiology and human-to-human interfaces in exploring how brains communicate with muscles. The ability to transmit neural signals from one individual to another opens new avenues for understanding brain function and for future neural technologies. Across the world, researchers are applying these principles in the field of the Neural Revolution, investigating how brain signals can be monitored, interpreted, and even shared. This growing field holds exciting implications for neuroscience education, neuroengineering, and the future of human-computer and human-human interfaces.