Andrea Stocco is quoted in this article from The Asian Age, about his research on brain to brain communication

Neuro nudge: Matter over mind

Scientists are inching towards ‘hacking’ the brain to control movement.

Controlling the brain is a favourite science fiction theme for filmmakers. And recently, the researchers have made significant advances in the field of neuroscience, which suggests that humans may soon acquire the power to understand and control the functioning of the brain. Scientists are moving closer to being able to “hack” the brain and control body movements. Researchers from the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences used magnetism to stimulate a group of cells in the brain of mice, prompting body movements such as rotating and running.

The technique, magneto-thermal stimulation, enables researchers to use heated magnetic nanoparticles to activate individual neurons inside the brain. After the procedure is completed, the scientists were able to remotely control the brain by alternating the magnetic energy. Following partially gaining control of the brain, the researchers controlled body movements of mice by getting different neurons to fire.

The research, which allows scientist to control body movements, might seem terrifying but can also be used to map the neuronal circuits that control human behaviour and emotions.

However, another piece of research published in 2014 has revealed that the scientists at Washington University have developed a technique to control body movements through brain cell-to-brain cell communication. A researcher sent a brain signal through Internet to control the hand motion of a fellow researcher who was seated in a separate area of the university campus.

The two researchers — Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco — involved in the experiment, which they called Direct Brain to Brain Communica-tion in Humans, connected their brains through a cap with electrodes, which can read and stimulate a brain. “The Internet was a way to connect computers, and now it can be a way to connect brains,” said Mr Stocco in a press release. “We want to take the knowledge of a brain and transmit it directly from brain to brain,” he added.

Read the entire article here .