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Breakthrough in prosthetic technology

By Jenny Greenwell
Published: 07/11/2009

Scientists from the University are being funded by the European Union to conduct experiments to help develop the first prosthetic limbs that can feel.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the University of Edinburgh have been investigating the way our brains interpret senses by attaching artificial mouse whiskers to robotic brains.

The experiments found that touch is not merely instinctive, as the robotic brain was able to interpret the movement of an object that was brushed against the synthetic whiskers.

The importance of this research for the development of sensitive, prosthetic limbs was highlighted at the prestigious Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago.

Tony Prescott, a Professor from the University of Sheffield’s Psychology Department, said: ‘The next generation of robots will learn from experience just as we do. This study is helping us to understand how the brain learns, without a teacher, to extract useful information from sensory signals.’

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