Unit-I

Case Study
Human Brain Chips – NeuroLink

Scholars have long been interested in how the brain works. Neuroscientists in particular have
a vested interest in understanding the human brain, what makes it tick, and the causes and
solutions to common conditions that limit a person’s uses of their brain and bodily functions.

The last two decades has seen significant increased interest in the realm of neurotechnology.
In 2008, a monkey with an implant was successfully able to control a robotic arm to feed
itself through activity in the brain, and as a result, in 2012, the first human brain-controlled
robotic arm became a success. In 2017, a paralyzed human was able to control a cursor
mentally to type out words and sentences on a computer and in 2018, that same person was
able to use a tablet functionally to browse the web, send emails and play games.

In 2019, Neurolink, a private company founded by famous billionaire and CEO of Tesla,
Elon Musk, introduced further advancements in AI brain technology with a pig named
Gertrude.

Gertrude had a wireless device implanted in her brain that was able to monitor a thousand
neurons at a time, a significant advancement in neuroscience technology that could
potentially become another tool for understanding the brain, as well as lead to other
technological advancements. Prior to this device, only 300 neurons could be transmitted at a
time, therefore this piece of tech was pretty ground-breaking.

From the pig experiment, it became clear to the world that Neurolink was seriously invested
in this area of neurotechnology and had the tools and vision to potentially advance AI
beyond what it had been capable of up to that point in time.

“The initial goal of our technology is to help people with paralysis regain independence
through the control of computers and mobile devices.” Neurolink states on their website.
“Our devices are therefore currently being designed to one day give people the ability to
communicate more easily via text or speech synthesis, to follow their curiosity on the web, or
to express their creativity through photography, art, or writing apps.” Neurolink.

In April 2021, another marvel was presented to the world by the company in the form of a
real live macaque monkey that demonstrated its ability to play a video game called Mind-
Pong using only brain power thanks to their new N1 device and pager. The monkey was able
to play the game successfully with only its mind.

This communication from the brain to the screen was made possible through a small device
and pager implanted into the monkey’s brain that essentially translated the primate’s synaptic
input to initiate an action. In other words, the device was able to tell the technology what to
do based on the messages received from the monkey’s brain activity. Sounds like science
fiction right?

Neuroscientist Dr Paul Nuyujukian stated that “there was definitely a lot of clever
engineering that went into that. To build a device, that can transmit 2,048 electrodes worth of
spiking information.. Over a radio, wirelessly…When you have that many channels the
performance that you should be able to get should be eclipse what we’ve been able to do in
the academic field.”

On the flip side of the advancement, however, many animal rights activists have called into
question the ethics of implanting the device into the brains of innocent animals, many of
whom have petitioned to the US government to see an end to Nuerolinks animal testing. The
essential question here perhaps is – Is it ever okay to experiment on animals to advance the
human condition?

Despite the backlash received from animal rights activists, the video marked an important
milestone in neurotechnology, in just one small device capable of receiving and sending
brain signals like never before.

The next step for Neurolink is to be able to start clinical trials whereby humans will become
the experimental subjects. The N1 is currently awaiting FDA approval before it can be tested
on humans. If Neurolink does get accepted for human trials, the implanting of it into the
human brain will involve major, invasive neurosurgery that doesn’t come without risk. This
type of surgery requires a patient to have a hole drilled into their skull and have the device
implanted into the surface of their brain. Infection, bleeding and tissue damage are all
common risks of this type of surgery.

If the clinical trials work and the N1 is successful, the potential to improve patients’ lives
who suffer from conditions such as Parkinson’s, epilepsy, dementia and even psychiatric
diseases, is abundantly clear, though not without risk.