In Prof Nicolelis’ first experiment, the encoder rat got a bigger reward if the decoder also made the right choice, leading to two-way neural collaboration between the two rats.

Scientists have engineered something close to a mind meld in a pair of lab rats, linking the animals' brains electronically so that they could work together to solve a puzzle. And this brain-to ...

Scientists have pulled off a real world, rodent-scale version of Vulcan “mind meld” from Star Trek, linking the brains of pairs of rats together over the internet to allow them to share ...

A similar test was conducted using an "encoder" rat in Brazil, paired with a "decoder" rat in Durham, N.C., via an Internet connection. The "rat mind-meld" experiment has met with some skepticism.

"These experiments (PDF) showed that we have established a sophisticated, direct communication linkage between brains, and that the decoder brain is working as a pattern-recognition device.