SM Wardrobe | National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Science news and science jobs from New Scientist. It "Rewires Your Brain?" Think Again. It seems so archaic: I type with my fingers and I use my hands to drive. Isn't there a better interface than the body? I want devices that can read my mind. It turns out that's not so far off. In a truly amazing line of research, it has been shown that implanting electrodes in the motor cortex of a non-human primates brain allows animals to control robotic arms without moving their bodies. ( Watch a video. ) All it takes is some training for the animals to learn to "think" the arm's actions.
There are also non-invasive brain imaging techniques that allow people, even people who are completely paralyzed, to communicate simple ideas (e.g., answer yes/no questions) entirely with their brains. ( Read more .) But that's a topic for another post. Thus my point: . " The hype is out there. What does it mean to rewire your brain? This trivial sense of rewiring is like saving a computer file. How do you tell the difference? Rewiring does happen. "Rewires the brain" sounds impressive.