Brain Implants…yikes. Can you imagine somebody inserting a coin-sized computer chip inside your brain? Well, in about 6 months, you won’t have to or so Musk says.
We’ve recently heard a lot about Elon Musk, majorly due to his takeover of Twitter. And amongst his more…questionable choices, we find Neuralink.
Neuralink is a neurotechnology company that was founded by Elon Musk and others in 2016 with the sole purpose of developing brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that would allow the human brain to communicate directly with computers, potentially improving the lives of people with certain brain disorders and disabilities. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at Neuralink, its brain implants, and what the future might hold for this technology.
The human brain is an incredibly complex and sophisticated organ, with billions of neurons and trillions of connections between them. Despite our best efforts, we still do not fully understand how the brain works, and many of its mysteries remain unsolved. However, thanks to recent advances in neuroscience and technology, we are starting to make progress in unlocking the secrets of the brain.
One of the key challenges in studying the brain is the fact that it is a highly protected organ, encased in the skull and surrounded by layers of tissue and fluid. This makes it difficult to access and study directly, which has limited our understanding of how it works. However, recent advances in brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) have started to change this.
BMIs allow the brain to communicate directly with external devices, such as computers. They typically consist of a small device that is implanted in the brain and can record brain activity and stimulate specific areas of the brain. By doing this, BMIs can provide a window into the workings of the brain, and allow us to better understand how it functions.
One potential application of this technology is in the treatment of brain disorders, such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Epilepsy is a disorder that is characterized by seizures, which are sudden, uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity in the brain. By recording brain activity and stimulating specific areas of the brain, a Neuralink implant could help prevent seizures.
Parkinson’s disease is another disorder that could potentially be treated with Neuralink’s technology. Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that affects movement and can cause tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with coordination. Using a brain implant can provide more precise and controlled stimulation than other treatments, such as medications. This can help to reduce the side effects of treatment, such as dizziness and nausea. Additionally, brain implants can be adjusted or turned off as needed, allowing for greater flexibility in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Musk had recently held a show and tell where a video was shown of a monkey controlling a mouse and keyboard using a brain implant. He also mentioned that brain implants developed by Neuralink could help blind people see and restore full body functionality of those with a damaged spinal cord.
However, Neuralink is far from its competition. For example, Synchron is another company that specializes in the field of brain implants. Not only have they already begun human trials and have had major success, but their brain implants don’t even require brain surgery! What’s more, a majority of neuroscientists claim that Neuralink’s success of a monkey being able to control a computer isn’t as big of a deal when compared to Synchron. Therefore, some might argue that Neuralink won’t be successful at all.
Now, while these brain implants from Neuralink claim to do the impossible, there are some concerns regarding ethical and sociopolitical norms. For example, some of the monkeys used in their experiments were treated harshly and had to be euthanized as a result of inadequate animal care or malfunction of the brain implant. In fact, an animal rights group had to file a complaint about it too. Furthermore, the way our brain works can make brain implants lose their functionality. It is said that our brain creates something known as “scar tissue” which forms around the implant itself when the brain detects or considers it to be made of a foreign object/body. Too much scar tissue around the implant though can cause it to lose its functionality. In addition to this, brain tissue frequently moves around in our skull which could render implants to be useless as they lose contact with the neurons inside our brain or are moved away from their target location. Moving on, I’ve recently learned that brain implants can be hacked! This can lead to people making unethical decisions and losing control over their own minds!
It’s safe to say that we humans are far from perfecting the use of brain implants and even further from the threat of “brainjacking” i.e. hacking brain implants. What do you think about this? Will you be willing to get a brain implant if the need arises?
Bibliography
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