NICHO HATSOPOULOS

Nicho Hatsopoulos develops systems that allow people to control computers and robots with just their thoughts.

- Kathryn Hulick

NEUROSCIENTIST 

Imagine you had an accident that paralyzed your arms and legs.

So, you get fitted with a brain implant that lets you control robotic limbs, a computer, and more-using your mind. How incredible would that be? Nicholas "Nicho" Hatsopoulos is working toward achieving such mind-boggling goals. He is a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago in Illinois. There, he studies how the brain controls body movements and develops brain-computer interfaces (BCIS). A BCI is a system that interacts with the brain, making it possible for a person to control a computer or robot with their thoughts. It even allows a person to feel touch sensations via a robot hand.

Hatsopoulos co-founded the company Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems and heads the University of Chicago's Hatsopoulos Lab. He has also won an award for his teaching.

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN HOW THE BRAIN CONTROLS MOVEMENT?

I saw a story about people building insect robots with very simple nervous systems that could exhibit really complex motor behavior. And I thought that was super cool. So, I ended up working in an insect lab [with locusts] and started recording from their brains. I was hooked.

AND NOW YOU GET TO WORK WITH HUMAN VOLUNTEERS. CAN A PERSON REALLY CONTROL A COMPUTER OR ROBOT WITH THEIR MIND?

We've successfully done it, at least in a research setting with human patients that have a spinal cord injury and that are partially paralyzed or completely paralyzed.

WOW! YOU'RE ALSO WORKING ON SIMULATING THE SENSE OF TOUCH. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?