A group of researchers from Korea showed how a neuroimplant can be used to control the behavior of a mouse: make an animal ignore sexual and food stimuli, lose interest in an object, or, conversely, pursue it.
An implant was built into the brain of each mouse, the basis of which was a filament of optical fiber. Through it, light was transmitted under the rodent's skull and stimulated a part of the brain that scientists had identified earlier, observing which groups of neurons are activated when the animal studies a new object - for example, a toy.
Light activation of neurons, or optogenetics, is a popular technique for studying the functions of brain regions. In order to "turn on" a group of neurons by means of light, genetically modified animals are brought out, in whose cells light-sensitive receptors - opsins are synthesized. Sometimes opsins are delivered to the desired parts of the brain using viral vectors, as was done in this experiment.
The researchers, led by engineer Phill-Seung Lee and biologist Daesoo Kim, gave a stimulating signal and observed the behavior of a mouse, in which a toy on a stick was placed in the cage. When the neuroimplant gave light, the animal could not tear itself away from the toy and chase it, and as soon as the implant was turned off, it lost interest.
Then the scientists put the rodents in a maze with seven "attractions": a wire ladder, a narrow bridge and an area with an uneven surface, as well as two distractions - a running female (all mice with implants were males) and a feeder. In addition, the researchers made the implant more complex: in addition to the optical fiber that transmits the stimulating signal, there appeared a toy fixed in the manner of a "carrot in front of the muzzle of a donkey" and a box with a servo drive that controls the position of the toy relative to the muzzle of the mouse. The servo was controlled via Wi-Fi from a computer.
The results have been very impressive. In the video from 02:05, you can see how the mouse passes the route, obeying only the experimenter: the animal chases the toy and turns after it whenever the person turns the device remotely. In addition, the mice completely ignored the stimuli: they quickly ran past the female and past the treat. The description of the experiment is published in Nature Neuroscience.
The creators of laptop-controlled mice, Lee and Kim, believe cyborg animals, whose behavior can be controlled by humans, is a very important and promising area of research. Cyborgs combine the obedience of robots and excellent cross-country ability, adaptability and ingenuity of animals.
Ksenia Malysheva
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