In a presentation showing the Neuralink implant that Elon Musk hopes will one day connect the human brain to a computer, two monkeys allegedly moved computer cursors with their brains.
The feat was first documented by others in a human in 2006 in the pre-YouTube era and with technology that is much more cumbersome, where patients are tethered to a computer by a cord.
Mr Musk’s presentation on Wednesday evening offered little that was significantly new from previous demonstrations of the device. He continued to argue that the implant could enable computer control for people with paralysis outside of a laboratory setting. But experts in the field questioned whether the demonstration showed major progress with the device, especially given the breadth of work being done across the country.
“These are incremental advancements,” Daniel Yoshor, a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who has worked with similar devices, said after watching the presentation. “The hardware is impressive, but it doesn’t represent dramatic progress in restoring or improving brain function.”
Neuralink does not have Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the device. Mr Musk said on Wednesday the company had submitted most of its paperwork to the agency seeking permission to implant its device in a human. He predicted a human test in six months, but any move toward human trials would be up to the FDA after a full evaluation of the risks of surgical implantation and device safety.
Neuralink originally scheduled the event for late October, before Mr. Musk, a multi-billionaire, postponed the presentation amid one of the more chaotic months of his career. He recently completed his off-again, on-again purchase of Twitter, which has drawn much of his attention — and sparked much controversy — over the management of the social media company.
As Mr. Musk juggles that and other tasks — he also oversees electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX — Neuralink is emerging from a period of change. Last year, Max Hodak, the company’s president and one of the co-founders, left to launch his own venture in the field. Neuralink’s CEO is officially Jared Birchall, an asset manager who serves as Mr. Musk leads.
Wednesday night’s presentation focused on the “Link” device, which resembles a centimeter-wide pile of various coins with hundreds of hair-thin threads. A surgical robot would cut a hole in the skull and slip the electrode wires into the gray matter of the brain, according to Mr Musk’s 2020 company presentation. The coin-like piece would be flush with the skull.
Brain-computer interface technology leaders have been keeping a close eye on Neuralink’s investment in a device that worked without protruding wires or hardware. However, the presentations of Mr. Musk has so far worried and disappointed many of them.
A 2021 Neuralink presentation of a monkey playing the video game Pong with its mind was similar to a primate demonstration at Brown University in 2001, though it had a much clunkier system.
In a 2020 presentation showing a pig with the implant, Mr Musk suggested the device could “solve” conditions such as paralysis and insomnia, and even give a user “superhuman vision”. Such applications sound like science fiction to scientists whose main focus is on restoring basic functions, such as typing, speaking, or lifting a fork, to those who have lost them after a spinal cord injury or a nasty diagnosis. For such patients, the benefits outweigh the small but serious risk of brain surgery.
“No one is talking about implanting able-bodied people,” said Cindy Chestek, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, whose lab works to restore function to amputees.
Wednesday evening, Mr. Musk said plans for his device included allowing the blind to see and giving someone with a severed spinal cord “full body functionality.” The claims drew crowd applause but do not reflect the state of the pitch.
“I wouldn’t say that with confidence,” said Dr. Yoshor after Musk claimed that the Neuralink device could see people who have never seen before. “I would be very unsure about this kind of device in a patient with congenital blindness.”
Safety will be the FDA’s first concern when considering whether to test the device in humans, said Cristin Welle, an associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Colorado who helped draft FDA guidelines for brain computer implants before he left the agency. left in 2016.
Dr. Welle said regulators will focus on whether the device would damage the brain or pose unreasonable risks to patients. She said the device’s durability would also be considered, given the potential for brain fluids to eat through insulating coating of the hundreds of hair-like electrodes on the Link device.
So far, Neuralink has tested the device on sheep, pigs and primates, according to data submitted to the Department of Agriculture.
Several other companies and scientists have already received FDA approval to study similar devices in humans. In 2004, researchers conducted human trials of the Utah Array, a device the size of a baby aspirin and spiked with spikes that is surgically placed on the brain. It connects through a wire to a small computer installed on the head and transmits it to a computer. This neural interface system is called BrainGate.
With the pieces in place, scientists look for patterns in the electrical current of neurons that signal the brain’s intent to type letters or lift a hand. The code, in turn, instructs a computer or robot to perform the task.
Nearly three dozen patients have been tested with the Utah array device. Using the technology, people with paralysis or other disabilities lifted a cinnamon latte with a robotic arm in 2011, typed letters quoting Shakespeare in 2012, and lifted forksfuls of mashed potatoes in 2016.
But the Utah array is not suitable for long-term use. It rises from the skull, ties users to a cord connected to a computer and exposes them to the risk of a brain infection. For these and other reasons, companies like Neuralink are working on devices that are fully implanted.
