8/10/2019 Brain to Brain Message

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/brain-to-brain-message 1/2

Special Arrangement 

S & T » Science

Published: November 15, 2014 02:41 IST | Updated: November 15, 2014 17:59 IST

EXCLUSIVE

Brains meet over Internet

K. Srinivas Reddy 

Rajesh Rao, who led the team which succeeded in brain-to-brain communication at the University of Washington.

Dr. Rajesh Rao, Professor of Computer Science, University of Washington.

The finding provides scientific evidence of the human brain being able to send a signal to another person, leading to a motor action -

such as a hand moving.

In a major scientific advance, researchers at the University of Washington have established a 'brain to brain

communication' link using the internet. The finding provides scientific evidence of the human brain being able to send

a signal to another person, leading to a motor action - such as a hand moving. The possibilities of effectively treating

cognitive disorders such as autism or making a paralysed person communicate with others have brightened after this

 breakthrough.

 A team led by an Indian-origin Professor of Computer Science, Rajesh Rao, had taken up the path-breaking research in

Brains meet over Internet - The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/indian

of 2 Sunday 16 November 2014 11:17

8/10/2019 Brain to Brain Message

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/brain-to-brain-message 2/2

 View Comment (1)

the University of Washington. PLoS One, a scientific journal, published the study recently.

The “brain-to-brain” connection was established between two persons sitting in different buildings of the university.

The signal from the sender’s brain, recorded using electroencephalography, was interpreted by a computer and

transmitted over the Internet to a transcranial magnetic stimulation machine, which delivered a magnetic impulse to

the receiver’s brain.

Could help paralysed communicate

In an e-mail interview, Professor Rao said the sender watched a computer game in which a pirate ship fired a rocket ata city and he had to fire a missile to save the city. The sender did not have access to a computer keyboard to hit the fire

key. The receiver in another building of the University, rested his hand on another keyboard but could not see the

screen on which the game was being played. The sender’s mental action of firing the rocket was recorded by the EEG

and transmitted over the Internet, interpreted by the TMS machine and an impulse was delivered, leading to the

twitching of the hand of the receiver, which hit the fire key.

“The work is still at a very early stage … In the future, such technology might allow novel diagnostic methods and new 

therapies for cognitive disorders such as autism or attention deficit disorder,” Dr Rao said, adding that beyond medical

applications, future brain-to-brain technologies could pave the way for a “fundamentally new way for humans to

communicate with each other.”

 Asked when the research findings could be put to use, Dr Rao said it could take at least a few decades before this type of 

interface was used beyond laboratories. He is working in association with Andrea Stocco, a researcher at the Institute

for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington.

Dr Rao grew up in Hyderabad and did his schooling at the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kanchanbagh. His father, P.N.A.P. Rao,

is a retired Avionics Director of the light combat aircraft project. His mother, Kamali Rao, is a retired Professor of 

English Language Teaching.

Keywords: brain to brain communication, internet, University of Washington, Rajesh Rao

Printable version | Nov 16, 2014 11:15:03 AM | http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science

/indianorigin-professors-reaserch-could-help-paralysed-communicate/article6600378.ece

© The Hindu

Brains meet over Internet - The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/indian

2 of 2 Sunday 16 November 2014 11:17