Background

Miguel Nicolelis is a neuroscientist and Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology at Duke University (retired 2021) who established foundational techniques for simultaneous recording from hundreds of neurons using multi-electrode arrays. His laboratory at Duke’s Center for Neuroengineering has been instrumental in advancing the theoretical and practical basis for high-bandwidth brain-computer interfaces.

Monkey Brain-Robot Experiments

In 2003 Nicolelis’s laboratory showed that rhesus monkeys could learn to reach and grasp with a robotic arm driven by signals from large ensembles of cortical neurons, guided by visual feedback, even when their own arms did not move. Learning to use the interface was accompanied by functional reorganisation across several cortical areas. In 2011 the laboratory reported a brain-machine-brain interface in which monkeys moved a virtual hand using motor cortex activity and told apart the textures of virtual objects through electrical microstimulation of the somatosensory cortex, an early demonstration of artificial touch feedback in a BCI.

Walk Again Project

Nicolelis founded the Walk Again Project, an international collaboration attempting to restore walking in paralyzed individuals using noninvasive EEG recordings combined with exoskeleton devices and brain-computer interface algorithms. The project achieved notable visibility when a paralyzed volunteer kicked a soccer ball in a demonstration at the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil. In early 2026 he reported work with Chinese collaborators suggesting BCI training can drive brain reorganisation that restores movement in paralysed patients.

Translational Philosophy

Nicolelis has championed bridging academic BCI research with practical applications for paralyzed patients. His emphasis on understanding neural coding principles has influenced how competing commercial companies approach algorithm development and signal decoding challenges.