What you need to know about human brain transplants

(CNN) — Elon Musk’s Neuralink startup implanted a computer chip in a person’s brain this Sunday, it said in a post on Monday. your platform , although he offered few details. Other companies doing similar work are further along in the research process (for example, Synchron has been enrolling and deploying people in its trial since 2021) and consumers may not have access to the technology anytime soon. But if the technology works, it could one day benefit people who otherwise can’t move or communicate and could have broader health applications. Here’s what you need to know about brain transplants.

What is a human brain transplant?

Researchers say the brain-computer interface would allow a person to use their thoughts to control a device such as a computer or phone.

How does this work?

Doctors implant these types of devices on the surface of the brain or deep within it.

The Neuralink device is the size of a coin; Synchron is a small stent-like device that is inserted into the blood vessels of the brain. The devices involve multiple electrodes that can’t read a person’s thoughts, but essentially observe and interpret signals sent by neurons, nerve cells that send signals from the brain to the body to help you move, breathe, etc. Use electricity and chemicals to send signals to the rest of the world. …, talk and eat.

“Using recent advances in computers over the last 30 or 40 years, we finally have enough processing power to create and train mathematical algorithms to predict what that information might look like, and eventually we have We have the processing power to make those inferences in real time,” said Dr. Paul Nujukian, a professor of bioengineering and neurosurgery who directs the Brain Interface Laboratory at Stanford University.

Although the technology is new, he said, the work is based on the basic science of how the brain controls movement that scientists have understood for more than 100 years.

How does this technology work?

Previous technology had to be connected to a computer. According to the company, Neuralink’s device is powered by a wirelessly charged battery and can communicate wirelessly with the Neuralink app, which decodes the data into action and intent. The Synchro device is connected to a telemetry unit that is linked to a computer.

How will these devices be used?

The initial goal is to help someone who has had a stroke or who has a degenerative motor disease such as ALS or other physical problems to communicate directly through the implant with an external device such as a phone, tablet or computer.

In 2021, Neuralink demonstrated how it worked with a monkey named Pager, who had two of these wireless devices implanted in his brain. The devices allowed Pager to control the cursor with his thoughts and play a game called “Mind Pong”.

When will these devices be available?

“Nothing happens overnight in this area,” Nuujukian said. He and other academics have been working on this type of research for decades, but technological innovation has increased in the last five to ten years as more neural engineering companies have come into the business.