Untitled Document
Not a member yet? Register for full benefits!

Username
Password
 Monkey Behavior Controlled through Brain Stimulation

This story is from the category The Brain
Printer Friendly Version
Email to a Friend (currently Down)

 

 

Date posted: 18/03/2005

Stimulating specific brain areas can cause monkeys to carry out complex behaviors, showing that such behaviors are hardwired into the primate mind.

While lower organisms such as insects are known to have largely hardwired behaviors, primates tend to mostly learn their behaviour. This lead to the assumption that most complex commands were not hardwired.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee now report eliciting complex behaviors such as hand-to-mouth movements simply by stimulating specific areas in the brain of a small nocturnal primate called the Galago, providing support for the theory that all primate brains?including human?contain innate complex behaviors.

"We have now seen this feature in the brain of an Old World monkey and New World prosimian," says research head Jon Kaas. "The fact that it appears in the brains of two such divergent primates suggests that this form of organization evolved very early in the development of primates. That, in turn, suggests that it is characteristic of all primate brains, including the human brain."

See the full Story via external site: www.betterhumans.com



Most recent stories in this category (The Brain):

04/02/2017: HKU scientists utilise innovative neuroimaging approach to unravel complex brain networks

26/01/2017: Personality linked to 'differences in brain structure'

12/01/2017: Donkey Kong used to Help Guide New Approaches in Neuroscience

10/12/2016: Doctors use deep-brain ultrasound therapy to treat tremors

17/02/2015: Hearing experts break sound barrier for children born without hearing nerve

17/02/2015: Smoking thins vital part of brain

05/02/2015: Intracranial Stimulation Proved Efficient in the Recovery of Learning and Memory in Rats

05/02/2015: Repeated head blows linked to smaller brain volume and slower processing speeds