By ninemsn staff
Scientists are one step closer to allowing paralysed people to walk after a monkey controlled a robot using only the power of its mind.
Idoya, a 76cm-tall laboratory monkey in North Carolina, was trained to walk upright on a treadmill with electrodes implanted into her brain.
The primate's brain activity was then used to control a walking humanoid robot in Japan — some 11,000km away.
As the 90kg robot simultaneously marched on its treadmill, scientists hailed it as an important step towards paralysed people regaining the ability to walk by wearing a robotic exoskeleton over their legs.
A video link of the walking robot was played in front of Idoya, with the monkey transfixed for an hour by the legs moving in synch with her own.
"That’s one small step for a robot and one giant leap for a primate," Dr Nicolelis told The New York Times.
However, the biggest revelation came when Idoya's treadmill was turned off.
Without dropping her concentration on the screen, she continued to make the robot walk — despite her own legs not budging.
Following their amazing achievement, Dr Nicolelis' has announced his next goal — allowing a human to control an exoskeleton with their mind by the end of the year.
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