Remotely controlled rat

Just recently I came across an article in the May 2002 issue of Nature where a team from the State University of New York describe their implementation of a remotely controlled rat. Electrodes are implanted in the somatosensory cortical (SI) and medial forebrain (MFB) areas of the rat's brain. Electrodes in the SI area stimulate sensory cells associated with the left and right whiskers, whereas stimulation of the MFB serves as a reward cue. Sending electrical pulses to the SI electrodes gives the rat a feeling of encountering an obstacle as would be naturally sensed by the right or left whiskers, compelling it to steer in the opposite direction. Stimulation of the reward MFB area follows correct steering and encourages the animal to respond as desired. Continuous stimulation of MFB while the rat is in motion also encourages it to proceed moving in its current direction. As described in their publication, the research team was able to remotely displace the rat in a simple slalom course as well as in a more naturally occurring three-dimensional obstacle course (watch the video here). Implanted electrodes can be stimulated from a laptop computer located as far as 500 meters away. This is achieved by a microprocessor-based, remote-controlled microstimulator placed in a backpack mounted on the animal.

I find this an extremely interesting study since it doesn't use brain stimulation in its traditional application of discovering functional mechanisms of the nervous system, but it is rather used to induce desired subject behavior. Using as such animals instead of expensive hardware as platforms for robotics can surely beneficially replace mobile machines. Potential applications include search and rescue of survivors, clearing mine fields, pest control, military surveillance and mapping of remote areas, otherwise dangerous and difficult to perform by human workers.

The authors assure that the rats don't suffer in any way and no cruelty is involved in their manipulation. Of course, animal rights proponents and other tree hugging hippies will never be convinced, and oppose such applications by the habitual virtue of their divine ability to determine what is moral and what isn't.

Article reference:
Sanjiv K. Talwar et. al. Rat navigation guided by remote control. Nature, 417: 37-38, 2002.

Article describing the detailed technical implementation:
Xu S et. al. A multi-channel telemetry system for brain microstimulation in freely roaming animals. J Neurosci Methods, 133: 57-63, 2004. (read abstract here)

Related articles on the web:
National Geographic article.
BBC News article.