Here’s How to Hijack Someone Else’s Arm With Your Mind

Our brain works in a complex manner and for young minds, it is something that needs to be taught with patience, ease and innovation. Greg Gage, a neuroscientist-turned-science-communicator has tried to build something fascinating to teach the young people the working of our brain.

Working on the same, he thought why not to take control of your own limb, or someone else’s, and learn how this magic happens.

As I mentioned the word “magic” earlier, there is nothing as such magic when we talk about science. Behind this experiment, there’s some simple neuroscience involved. When our hands are told to move, our brain sends signals in the form of very mild electricity to the nerves in our arms through our spinal cords.

The neuroscientist Greg Gage hijacks the arms by learning how to read those electrical signals. Here Gage performs this experiment on two people who don’t have any idea of what is going to happen to them. But, surprisingly they seem convinced to let someone stick an electrode in them without approval. Now, Gage reads the signals that Sam’s (a volunteer) brain sends to move her hand.

Then Gage puts some wires around the arm of a second volunteer Miguel. Now when all the set up is done, the real magic starts.  All Sam does is thinks about moving her hand and the reaction is seen at Miguel’s end.

Yes, Miguel’s arm moves and jumps crazily like an arm of some zombie. As I mentioned earlier, the viedo is creepy yet amazing.

I know what’s in your mind right now. “Can I try this at home? Is this possible for an ordinary human being to perform this experiment?” Fortunately (or, unfortunately?) according to Backyard Brains, Gage’s company, this could be performed at home.

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