'When your own body performs motor tasks repeatedly, the movements become almost automatic,' said Jose Carmena, principal study investigator at the UC-B.

'We have demonstrated that the brain is able to form a motor memory to control a disembodied device in a way that shows how it controls its own body. That has never been shown before,' Carmena added.

Already, researchers have demonstrated that rodents, non-human primates and humans are able to control robotic devices or computer cursors using only brain signals.

These findings have been published in PLoS Biology.