Helper in the brain. How implants will change our lives in the future

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In the future, brain implants will become as commonplace as a smartphone. Yes, it is not so easy to boast of a new implant model, but the advantages of such an assistant in the brain are undeniable. We figured out how implants can help in everyday life.

What would you give for being able to see in the dark? Or for a chip in your head, which, on the first command, can provide any information read earlier? Or the same chip, but with the ability to go online to view the Wikipedia page right in your head?

The neuroprosthetics discipline deals with the introduction of neural prostheses into the brain. The first neural prosthesis was created in 1957 for people with hearing loss. The prosthesis was named "cochlear implant" (lat. Cochlea - snail). It is necessary for people whose hearing loss is caused by damage to the structures of the cochlea - the auditory part of the inner ear or the auditory analyzer.

The essence of the method is that a device is installed in the body that can convert sound impulses read by an external microphone into signals that can be understood by the nervous system. Over time, as the patient adapts to the implant, he becomes able to hear.

After the creation of cochlear implants, neuroprosthetics took a huge leap forward. And what science is doing now really looks like science fiction.

Bionic body parts

The creation of artificial body parts that can be controlled by the brain like real ones is one of the tasks of neuroprosthetics. Scientists from Johns Hopkins University have made significant progress in this. They managed to create two prostheses for Les Baugh, who had both arms amputated.

Bach lost his arms due to a strong electric shock 40 years ago, so the task of scientists was not limited to creating prostheses. First of all, they needed to wake up the nerve endings in the body, since after 40 years of inactivity they lost the ability to read and transmit signals.

The prototype that was put on Bach looks like this.

Under the shirt is a corset to which the sensors are attached. They read signals from nerve endings, translating them into patterns that prostheses can understand.

By starting to use prostheses, Bach surprised even their creators. He not only managed to control them, but also to combine gestures with both hands at the same time. According to Bach himself, "prostheses opened the door to a new world for him." With their help, he can, for example, pick up and move objects.

Nevertheless, dentures are far from ideal. The movements are reproduced sequentially in each "joint". That is, in order to move the hand, Bach first needs to set the shoulder joint in motion, then the elbow joint, and only then the wrist joint. However, one of the project's engineers, Michael McLoughlin, does not think this is a big problem:

We're just getting started. Think back to the internet in its early days. The next 10 years will be phenomenal.

Neuron observation

One of the most exciting parts of neuroprosthetics is improving brain performance. And in this, scientists at the Neurotechnological Center at Columbia University have achieved the greatest results. They managed to implant a thread studded with microscopic electronic devices into the mouse brain. With their help, they were able to track and stimulate individual neurons in the brain.

Now the main goal of the project is to study the mammalian brain as best as possible. Scientists still cannot understand how the activity of individual neurons gives rise to emotions and sensations. The human brain contains. The mouse brain is a thousand times smaller, and this is still a fantastic amount of unknown information.

Surprisingly, neurons perceive a foreign object in a friendly manner. During the five weeks that the mouse brain was observed, no rejection was detected.

The next step is to implement a network of threads containing new sensors. We also want to study the brains of mice in their daily life and are working on the remote transmission of information from neurons.

The team has not yet thought about the first experiment on the human brain. The project will be tested for at least several years, and only then, after dozens of successful attempts, it will be possible to test it on a human. If the project is still successful, artificial objects that are connected to neurons will open up endless possibilities: from studying the brain at a previously unattainable level to stimulating brain functions using electrical impulses.

What if they get hacked?

My name is Bakare Baito and I am the nephew of a Nigerian prince. My uncle died and bequeathed $ 2 million to me. Unfortunately, I am in another country and I have no money for a ticket. Please send money for a ticket and we will split the money.

If your email client's spam filters work well, then you rarely receive such messages. If it's bad, then more often. It’s even worse if you believed in a similar story and transferred money at least once.

However, spam in email clients, social networks or SMS is not a big deal. But is it possible that in the future, when a brain implant becomes as commonplace as a smartphone, we will receive spam in the brain?

Alas, this is inevitable.

At least that's what the experts say. For example, the technologist of The Intercept (Micah Lee):

It seems to me that human civilization is hundreds of years from the point where it can create software without critical errors. If at all possible.

It's hard to disagree with Mike. Can you name at least one program or application that does not have a single bug? Unlikely. The problem is that a potential brain implant is the same device as a modern smartphone or computer. Much more perfect, of course. But the bottom line is that it also has a software shell that runs it. And this shell will have bugs and vulnerabilities.

The two largest software companies, Google and Apple, are still re-emerging vulnerabilities. They are like a hydra: against the background of one fixed bug, two appear in the future.

A possible solution is to limit the external interaction of the implant. That is, he will be able to perform certain functions, but will not have a connection with the Internet or the outside world.

However, what if you need to update the software on the implant? Or fix a mistake? You still have to give someone else access to your brain. There is no solution to this problem.

Future

Brain implants are just a matter of time. As soon as a stable technology emerges, leading companies will start releasing their solutions. And most importantly, you will want to buy them.

One of the reasons why the exact time of the appearance of such an implant is unknown is the materials. So far, the one that might work is graphene, a modification of carbon one atom thick. It has good electrical conductivity, and since it is made of organic material, the likelihood of biocompatibility is high.

But despite the fact that scientists are researching the biocompatibility of graphene now, we are still decades away from the future with implants in our heads. Is it good or bad?