The Science Behind Elon Musk’s Neuralink Brain Chip | WIRED

Narrator] Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain chip company, Recently pushed back on claims That it profaned animal welfare laws some years agone While testing on monkeys. This year, the corporate plans to check on human subjects. But once it will, What would this major step mean for brain implant science?- lecturers like Maine have conducted clinical trials In individuals with brain implants. - [Narrator]       Dr. Paul Nuyujukian Is a academician of applied science and neurosurgery? He directs the Brain Interfacing Laboratory at Stanford. For concerning twenty years currently, Academic analysis brain implants, up till this time, More or less have nearly solely been with wires. The distinction that the N1 has with Neuralink, It’s totally implantable, it's powered, It is wireless. All of this is often being done over Bluetooth protocol. - [Narrator] let’s dive into the science behind

 Neuralink To understand however precisely human brain chips work.[Electronic music]  The science behind however these implants work Is not that totally different from however You would move making an attempt to live The energy from Associate in Nursing AA battery. It's the same principle that we're doing With these brain implants. This is referred to as neuro electrophysiological recording. When you move your arm to the correct, Certain sets of neurons area unit activated in a very sure pattern. Listening in thereto activity which pattern, You can predict terribly quickly Which direction the arm goes to maneuver. These area unit the neurons that area unit directly wired To your muscle. [Narrator] unless that pathway From the brain to the neural structure to the muscle is broken, The manner it's in patients with disfunction.  That pathway is broken, then the neuro signals, Their signals from their brain, Aren’t about to get all the way down to move the muscles. But in several cases, The signals area unit still gift within the brain. They're simply not obtaining out. So, if you reach in and place one thing that listens in To those neurons, Then you recognize what is happening to the muscle - [Narrator] and that is the goal of a brain implant. Now, let's cross-check a timeline Of brain interface breakthroughs over the years. Scholars have long been fascinated by however the brain works. So, it is important to look at these new developments At Neuralink as a fruits of breakthroughs By brain machine interface researchers, Especially within the previous couple of decades. 

For example, in 2002, the primary demonstration Of period of time pointer management in monkeys occurred. 2008, a monkey dominant a robotic arm In 3 dimensions fed itself. 2012, the primary brain-controlled robotic arm by a personality's. 2017, a personality's controlled a pointer mentally To kind out words and sentences. Dr. Nuyujukian was a part of the study, As well because the one in 2018, Where a personality's subject mentally controlled a pill To do things like browse the net, send emails, And play games or music.  All that is been through with one or two hundred electrodes. [Narrator] however in 2019, Neuralink, a non-public company, Changed the sport once it disclosed a pig named Gertrude With a wireless implant that monitored About a thousand neurons. The neurons area unit like wiring. And you quite would like Associate in Nursing electronic factor To solve Associate in Nursing electronic drawback.  That was a really fascinating moment Because it signaled to the community That they're serious, they are investment, They’re building hardware from scratch, And they're putt it in giant animals. For the pig, the electrodes were established  In sense modality cortex, Allowing them to live activity, Like that of taking a step. Every time that that exact vegetative cell They were taking note of discharged, Our would hear this tiny pop or click From the audio channel. And so, the instant I detected it, right, It’s like, oh yeah, they got neurons. You just acknowledge it instantly. You know what neurons sound like If you have been taking note of them for many years. And that's what they were communication, right? They were telling the sector, "We've got neurons, listen."[Narrator] and long, It appeared the business took notice. Then in Gregorian calendar month of 2021, Neuralink free the alleged mind foetor video. electronic device was the name. It's a rhesus monkey catarrhine, that is that the kind of monkey That is terribly usually employed in this field. Implanted with 2 of the N1 devices, the Neuralink devices, Performing brain management of a pointer on a screen. That's very vital as a result of here, Neuralink is showing their new hardware, Their new device in their hands works in a very monkey. That's the level that is necessary To win over the scientific community, To win over the agency, That you are able to go in human clinical trials. That's the proof the agency is searching for. [Narrator] The recording power of the N1 device in electronic device Was eye-opening as a result of the sheer variety Of individual electrodes that had been established . There was undoubtedly plenty of clever engineering That went into that, To build a tool which will transmit a pair of,048 electrodes-worth Of spiking data, right, Of digital ones and zeros of spikes, Over a radio wirelessly. And once you have that a lot of channels, The performance that you just

 ought to be able to get Should eclipse what we've been able to do In the tutorial field. The maximum variety of electrodes I've ever recorded from Is two hundred to three hundred. [Narrator] thus, with all those electrodes, How will a tool just like the N1 get implanted? In a subject's brain? build no mistake, this can be surgical operation. It is not a joke. This requires cutting the skin, obtaining right down to os, Drilling a hole within the os. Exposing what is known as the meninx, Which is that this protecting layer of tissue That surrounds the brain. Cutting the meninx, folding it back to show the brain. And then, you get to the surface of the brain, Where you'll implant the electrodes. The biggest risks with these kinds of techniques Are infection, bleeding, and tissue injury. [Narrator] thus, what would it not regard the authority to approve Clinical trials in humans? The Neuralink device Are known as category III medical devices. They are implantable, And they're going into terribly sensitive body cavities. That is the very best level of scrutiny That the authority assigns to medical devices. They don't have a precursor. There's no previous example that is approved. And so, terribly fittingly, they got a exerciser They have to cross so as to induce it approved. So, what Neuralink must do next? Is prepare a really long and technical document With all of the proof from animal studies That their device is safe and effective. This document is submitted to the authority, Who has ninety days to review and provides them associate degree answer? If 

the authority says affirmative, then their run is approved, And Neuralink will enter and recruit human participants. We area unit on the cusp of an entire paradigm shift. This type of technology has the potential To transform our treatments, Not only for stroke, and disfunction, And complication, motor chronic diseases, But conjointly for just about each alternative variety of neurological disease, From Parkinson's disease to encephalopathy, to dementias, Alzheimers, And even medical specialty malady. Seeing Neuralink and therefore the alternative corporations during this area Start associate degree trade around neuroengineering Brain machine interfaces, neuro medical specialty, Has been an amazing quantity of validation For neuroscientists and engineers Who’ve been operating during this area for decades? How much happier may the scientific community be Than to convey birth to associate degree industry? [Narrator] thus, can this trade sometime lead To the creation of machine humans With divine intelligence? there is all kinds of wild speculation in our field. I think phantasy is extraordinary At telling terribly artistic and charming stories About all kinds of things, Including brain machine interfaces. The reality is we have a tendency to area unit in such early stages of this area, Right, wherever we have a tendency to area unit simply barely able to record From neurons that management muscles And try to interpret one thing, Glean meaty data out of that. We're planning to be in this area for many years. That's wherever i'll focus a lot of of my career, Is understanding what is going on on with these neurons, And the circuits that they're functioning on. That's wherever the last fifteen years of my work has been. And the coming back many decades of my work Will focus in on this area Because that is planning to be the forefront of neurobiology. The rest, I think, is fun to trust,  But i do not see however that is planning to beIn the predictable future.