People needed for brain-implant experiment by Musk startup

Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface (BCI) company Neuralink is now looking for volunteers to participate in its first human trial.

The company wants to connect people’s brains to computers. It plans to test this on people who cannot move their bodies.

A robot will assist in putting a brain-computer interface (BCI) in place. This will allow people to control a computer cursor or type using just their thoughts.

But other companies have already put BCI devices into people’s bodies.

‘The first thing you need to do’

Neuralink got approval from the US FDA for its first human clinical trial in May. This is an important achievement after facing difficulties in getting approval before.

According to Neuralink, the FDA’s approval is a significant milestone that will eventually enable their technology to assist many individuals in the future.

The company asked for permission to put their devices inside ten people, according to former and current employees who talked to news agency Reuters.

The number that everyone has decided on is unknown.

Brain signals are electrical impulses that travel through the brain and are responsible for communication between different parts of the brain. These signals help regulate various bodily functions and processes, such as movement, memory, and emotions.

At the beginning of the six-year study, a robot will be used to place 64 thin threads, thinner than a human hair, on a part of the brain that controls “movement intention”, the company explained.

Neuralink’s new N1 implant can use a special battery that can be charged without wires. It can record and send brain signals wirelessly to an app, which can then decipher how the person wants to move.

The company says that individuals who have quadriplegia from an injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be able to participate in the trial. ALS is a disease that causes the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain to deteriorate.

Mr Musk’s participation makes Neuralink more well-known, but he has competitors who have been around for almost twenty years. Blackrock Neurotech, a company based in Utah, put their first of several BCIs in a person’s body in 2004.

Precision Neuroscience, which was started by one of the founders of Neuralink, wants to assist individuals who have paralysis. The implant looks like a super thin piece of tape that is placed on top of the brain. It can be put in using a small cut in the skull, which is an easier way to do it.

Currently, the devices that already exist are producing outcomes. Two recent studies in the US used implants to see how the brain works when someone tries to talk. They found a way to understand this brain activity and use it to help people communicate.