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The first person to receive a brain implant from Neuralink, Elon Musk's company, finally had its identity revealed in a video posted on March 20th. Noland Arbaugh He received the brain implant in January this year and, in a demonstration lasting just over 10 minutes, he spoke about how it works in practice. See all the information right now.
Tests in practice
In February, Elon Musk announced that the first person to receive the Neuralink brain implant was now able to move the mouse pointer without needing any accessory. His identity had not been revealed until March 20th and now we know who was chosen.
The lucky one is Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old man who became quadriplegic in a car accident in 2016. He currently lives in the USA and has no movement or sensation below the area of the injury, which occurred in his shoulders.
The reason I got into this was because I wanted to be part of something that I feel is going to change the world. I'll be Professor X. I think that's quite appropriate... I'm basically telekinetic.
Noland Arbaugh, man who received the Neuralink brain chip.
In the video posted by Neuralink on your Instagram , he claims that he can now return to playing chess and Civilization just by thinking, as the commands are sent via Bluetooth. Check out:
The man who received the brain chip from Neuralink mentions that the experiment is not perfect, and that there are some problems that need to be resolved. But the change after eight years was noticed in these two months that the chip was in his brain.
I'm very lucky to be part of this. I don't want people to think it's the end of the journey, there's still a lot of work to be done. But it has already changed my life.
Noland Arbaugh, man who received the Neuralink brain chip.
How does the Neuralink brain implant work?
with the official name of Telepathy (Telepathy) and the size of a coin, the brain chip of Neuralink It has a battery powered by an inductive charger that allows it to be recharged just by approaching it, without the need for wires — as is done with some models of smartphones, smartwatches and wireless headphones.
When implanted in a person, it is placed in a region of the brain that controls intention to move. Implemented by a robot that has “a needle thinner than a strand of hair”, five cameras and a tomography system, the computer installed in the brain is wrapped in a biocompatible cover that s various physiological conditions. The company also claims that this protection is very resistant and can be used for years.
Another detail is that the brain implant of Neuralink performs the processing on 1.024 electrodes, distributed on 64 extremely flexible wires. In practice, electronic chips “read” brain waves and send them to the application. And this is when the “magic happens”.
Authorization for the first implant to be carried out was issued in September 2023 and, at the time of writing this article, only one person had received the Neuralink brain chip. There is still no information that more humans have received the implant, but registrations for volunteers opened in September and were aimed at people with paralysis resulting from cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
For the tests to be carried out, the device must have the Neuralink and the chip will send the information. The process of moving a mouse with your mind works in four steps:
- The brain indicates that it wants to make the movement of moving the mouse with the thought;
- The chip receives this information;
- The data is sent to the Neuralink application;
- The action takes place on the paired device.
Next Steps
Musk mentioned that his biotechnology company will focus on training the person who received the brain implant to click on an option on the screen, but without needing a physical device for this to happen. The billionaire also commented that he has plans to make this available to treat obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.
When registrations were opened, only people with mobility difficulties were selected, so it is certain that the first chosen ones are part of this group. Until the closing of this article, it is only known that Noland received the Neuralink chip, but it is expected that more people have already received the device.
We are trying to get as many buttons pressed by thought as possible. This is what we are currently working on.
Elon Musk on testing the first person with Neuralink's brain implant.
The company has been testing the brain chip since 2021, but this was done with monkeys. At the time, the Neuralink stated that the animals were able to play games like pong with their minds. The first tests were carried out on humans three years after that and, for now, only people with reduced mobility will be the focus.
What do you think about people receiving brain chips to solve mobility problems? Tell us Comment!
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With information: Neuralink l Reuters
reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 21 / 3 / 14.
