Mind meld: Scientists connect two brains over the Internet in astonishing experiment

Brain scientists at the University of Washington have used an old-fashioned parlour game in a novel way to prove that two people’s brains can be linked across the Internet - an experiment that sounds like it was ripped from the pages of a science-fiction novel.

The experiment is believed to be the first one to demonstrate that two brains can be directly linked to allow one participant to correctly guess what the other is thinking.

Researchers say melding two minds has the potential for a vast range of applications. For example, it might allow for the transfer of information from a healthy one to a damaged one. Or it might allow an alert person to transmit that brain state to somebody who is sleepy, or struggling to pay attention

“What we wanted to establish is that it is possible to use this rudimentary brain-to-brain collaboration. to solve a common problem,” said Andrea Stocco, an assistant professor of psychology and researcher at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the UW.

The research was published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. The brain science investigations are funded by a US$1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation.