Neuralink demonstrates implant to measure brain activity

Neuralink, a company owned by Elon Musk, has demonstrated a brain implant in a pig. With the device it is possible to measure the activity of brain cells, something that in the long term should lead to a ‘brain-computer interface’.

During a presentation, the company demonstrated a working specimen of a brain implant that had been inserted into a pig and was able to read the brain activity live. The device can measure the electrical activity of neurons, the cells in the brain, and it is known which brain area provides which activity.

The device that Neuralink showed is located just below the surface of the brain and has no wires that go deeper into the brain. As a result, a large number of brain areas are not ‘read’, despite the fact that a concept that Neuralink showed last year, was still equipped with sensors deep in the brain. Most cognitive brain functions are found in the cortex of the brain, and wires inserted deeper into the brain can cause some damage.

For some time now, large-scale research has been conducted into implants in humans that can measure brain waves, and implants that can restore the activity of damaged nerve bundles via electrical stimulation, and there are also a large number of practical applications, such as controlling robotic limbs in paralysis. , or operating a computer with thoughts.

With the demonstration of the brain implant, Neuralink therefore still has a lot of development work to do before it comes to a medically usable product. The company also admits that the update it has provided is primarily designed to get people excited and grow the business; Neuralink is still looking for a large number of new employees to eventually arrive at a brain-computer interface, among other things for medical purposes. The first human studies will be in patients with paralysis due to damaged nerves in the spinal cord.

Ultimately, Neuralink wants to be able to read thoughts with high resolution by reading brain activity and ‘integrate’ computers with the human brain. The biggest challenge, however, is not being able to measure brain activity, but interpreting those signals. Although brain functions are grouped in certain areas of the brain, much is still unclear about how different brain cells work together and exchange information to eventually generate thoughts. Scientists therefore mainly focus with such implants on the restoration of bodily functions due to damaged nerves.