BCIs & Neurotechnology News and Discussions

[raklian]

[weatheriscool]

New treatment shows promise against fatal neurological disease: Study
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01- ... sease.html

French musician Guilhem Gallart, a member of the Fonky Family, is seen here with his partner Wahiba; he was diagnosed with ALS in 2015.

A new treatment shows promise against the deadly neurodegenerative disease ALS, a study based on mice showed Tuesday.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease after the famous baseball player, devastates nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

It affects about 30,000 Americans at any given time, causing progressive loss of motor and cognitive function. Most patients die within five years of their diagnosis.

In the new research, published in the journal PLOS Biology, a team led by Jeffrey Agar of Northeastern University investigated a way to target and stabilize an abundant enzyme that keeps cells safe from the toxic byproducts of consuming food and breathing oxygen.

Inherited mutations to the gene responsible for production of this protein, called SOD1, are involved in many cases of ALS, and at other times such mutations can occur without family history.

A malfunctioning SOD1 gene causes the protein to assemble into the wrong shape. This prevents it from doing its tasks, but can also trigger a build up of protein clumps that are also a hallmark of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases.

[caltrek]

...

More on that:

Elon Musk's Neuralink Is Now Inside A Human Being
by Miriam Fauzia
January 30, 2024

Introduction:

(Inverse) Last May, neurotech startup Neuralink received the federal green light to test its brain implant in human clinical trials. Now, less than a year later, Neuralink’s founder Elon Musk announced on X (formerly Twitter) that its brain-computer interface (or BCI) device was successfully placed in a human recipient.

“The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well. Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” Musk posted late Monday.

Dubbing the name for the brain implant “Telepathy,” Musk offered no other details or specifics on the participant or the procedure itself; Neuralink did not immediately respond to Inverse’s email requesting comment.

According to a company blog post, its clinical trials — described as part of Neuralink’s Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface (or PRIME) Study — involve placing and installing their quarter-sized N1 brain implant, using a robot along a region of the brain controlling movement intention. The chip is designed to pick up the user’s brain signals, which are used to control an external device.

“[Telepathy] [e]nables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking. Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs,” Musk added in another post. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”

Read more here: https://www.inverse.com/health/neurali ... an-trials

Extract:

(Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) Pursuant to California’s state open records law, the Physicians Committee (for Responsible Medicine) obtained animal use protocols and amendments, health records, surgical logs, necropsy reports, and other documents
related to the use of monkeys in invasive brain experiments funded by Neuralink.
…
The records reviewed by the Physicians Committee indicate that many, if not all, of the monkeys
experienced extreme suffering as a result of inadequate animal care and the highly invasive
experimental head implants during the experiments, which were performed in pursuit of
developing what Neuralink and Elon Musk have publicly described as a “brain-machine
interface.” These highly invasive implants and their associated hardware, which are inserted in
the brain after drilling holes in the animals’ skulls, have produced recurring infections in the
animals, significantly compromising their health, as well as the integrity of the research.

Read more here: https://pcrm.widen.net/s/7tqn59fhm8/202 ... s-reduced

[Powers]

Historical moment or not yet?

[firestar464]

more like musk did cringe again

[weatheriscool]

more like musk did cringe again

Lets be honest. It is cringe because the people that he is supporting are going to kill and ban such programs if they get their way and musk is going to have a blink stare on his face as he wonders wtf just happened? The guy is an idiot. Same for driverless cars and probably for AGI.

[firestar464]

You make good points, but my issue was more with how the animals died in pain and agony and now he wants to try it on people, somehow expecting different results

[caltrek]

New Neurotechnology is Blurring the Lines Around Mental Privacy − but are New Human Rights the Answer?
by Laura Y. Cabrera
February 2, 2024

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Neurotechnologies – devices that interact directly with the brain or nervous system – were once dismissed as the stuff of science fiction. Not anymore. Several companies are developing and some are even testing “brain-computer interfaces,” or BCIs, of which the most high-profile is likely Elon Musk’s Neuralink. He announced on Jan. 29, 2024, that the first human in the company’s clinical trials has received a brain implant.

Like other companies, Neuralink’s immediate goal is to improve autonomy for patients with severe paralysis or other neurological disorders.

But not all BCIs are envisioned for medical use: There are EEG headsets that sense electrical activity inside the wearer’s brain covering a wide range of applications, from entertainment and wellness to education and the workplace. Yet, Musk’s ambitions go beyond these therapeutic and nonmedical uses. Neuralink aims to eventually help people “surpass able-bodied human performance.”

Neurotechnology research and patents have soared at least twentyfold over the past two decades, according to a United Nations report, and devices are getting more powerful. Newer devices have the potential to collect data from the brain and other parts of the nervous system more directly, with higher resolution, in greater amounts and in more pervasive ways.

However, these improvements have also raised concerns about mental privacy and human autonomy – questions I think about in my research on the ethical and social implications of brain science and neural engineering. Who owns the generated data, and who should get access? Could this type of device threaten individuals’ ability to make independent decisions?

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/profiles/l ... a-435096

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New brain stimulation technique shows promise for treating brain disorders
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02- ... rders.html
by Institute for Basic Science

The human brain's adaptability to internal and external changes, known as neural plasticity, forms the foundation for understanding cognitive functions like memory and learning, as well as various neurological disorders.

New research conducted by a team led by Dr. Park Joo Min of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) unveils a novel technique that could transform the treatment landscape for brain disorders. The work has been published in Science Advances.

The team developed a non-invasive brain stimulation method called Patterned Low-Intensity Low-Frequency Ultrasound (LILFUS), which holds tremendous potential for inducing long-lasting changes in brain function.

Traditionally, magnetic and electrical brain stimulation methods have been used to modulate brain function. However, these methods come with inherent limitations that restrict their spatial resolution and penetration depth, making it challenging to precisely stimulate specific brain regions with optimal efficacy.

More invasive methods, such as those that require surgical procedures, exhibit superior control and therapeutic effects for specific deep brain stimulation, but they come with risks such as tissue damage, inflammation, and infection. These limitations have fueled the search for alternative approaches that can overcome these constraints and provide more efficient and precise modulation of brain function.

In the latest study unveiled by the IBS, researchers used ultrasound to enable precise stimulation of specific brain areas. Unlike electromagnetic waves, ultrasound has the advantage of being able to penetrate deep into the brain tissues.

[weatheriscool]

Brain waves found to travel in one direction when memories are made and the opposite when recalled
https://newatlas.com/medical/viral-myoc ... ll-damage/
by Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

In the space of just a few seconds, a person walking down a city block might check their phone, yawn, worry about making rent, and adjust their path to avoid a puddle. The smell from a food cart could suddenly conjure a memory from childhood, or they could notice a rat eating a slice of pizza and store the image as a new memory.

For most people, shifting through behaviors quickly and seamlessly is a mundane part of everyday life.