DailyDirt: Braiiins... And Brain Implants

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Cyborgs are already walking among us -- if you count people who have advanced pacemakers and other implanted devices (eg. insulin pumps, cochlear implants, etc). There are also a handful of folks who are actively trying to become cyborgs, like Kevin Warwick. However, brain implants still need to be a lot less invasive and traumatic if anyone is going to really get a direct, permanent brain interface. Here are just a few links on neuro-interfaces that are making some progress.

• Cyborg rodents with spinal cord injuries can walk again thanks to implanted neural interfaces and flexible silicone wiring. This kind of research is still quite far away from being used in human patients, but it's promising work that could someday lead to amazing computer-brain interfaces. [url]
• The Utah Array is a chip that can be implanted in a person's brain and receive signals to do things such as control prosthetic limbs. There are also other kinds of neuroprosthetics that are similar (eg. Michigan array and NeuroProbes arrays), but these devices aren't exactly ready to replace smartphones just yet. [url]
• One woman has a brain implant that controls her epilepsy by scanning her brain for signs of a seizure and then stimulating her brain to interrupt it. Sixteen other patients have also been fitted with commercial neurostimulators, and doctors are learning more and more about how brain activity works with these implants. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: brain, brain implants, cyborg, epilepsy, kevin warwick, michigan array, neural interfaces, neuroprobes array, neurostimulators, prosthetic limbs, utah array