“The system we have developed uses signals recorded from the motor cortex of the brain to trigger coordinated electrical stimulation of nerves in the spine that are responsible for locomotion,” – David Borton, Assistant Professor at Brown University
Okay, so this probably sounds like a bunch of confusing science-y bullshit, so I’ll explain it on a level us ‘Normies’ would understand. Alright, so those nerds over at Brown are on the brink of something super revolutionary. They’re calling it the “Brain-Spinal Interface”.
The Brain-Spinal Interface is this nifty little gadget the scientists cooked up in their laboratories. This device allows, you guessed it, the brain and spine to communicate. Which is a huge deal to people who’ve, tragically, lost their ability to move, and are now paralyzed.
The reason it’s such a huge deal, is because, the Brain-Spinal Interface, can restore your movement capabilities. Although, as of right now, it’s only been tested on macaques monkeys, but has shown to bring back their ability to move a paralyzed limb.
The way it works, is through these weird implant things. Apparently, there’s this pea-sized electrode array, that they stick up in your brain. What it does is record signals from your motor cortex, or the part of the brain that tells our bodies to move, and these signals are sent to a wireless neurosensor. The neurosensor thing then relays the signals to a computer, which decodes them, and sends them on over to the electrical spinal stimulator.
The spinal stimulator, another implant placed below the area of injury on the spine, uses the decoded brain information to create a pattern of electricity. The electrical stimulation signals to the spinal nerves that control the body’s movement. Allowing the person inserted with the Brain-Spinal Interface to have command over their motion again, which is pretty rad
Feels like we’re in the future, am i right? Pretty soon, we’ll probably be able to download our conscious onto computers, and become immortal machines! But, anyways, there are, like with everything, a few limitations of the device, as of right now, at least.
For instance, the monkeys, who were installed with the interface, have difficulty with more subtle movements, like navigating from obstacles in their path. Also, the device can effectively send brain signals to the spine, but is unable to return sensory information back to the brain. Then, there’s the fact that scientists aren’t positive on how much weight the monkeys are able put on the affected leg.
However, the device successfully does restore movement capabilities. And, plus, they say it’s still got, at least, a decade to go before they can start trying it out on humans. So, that’s a decade of them working out all the bugs, and a decade of future advancements that can be implemented to improve the device.
New innovations, like this, are the sh*t. Imagine how much hope for the future, and happiness, this gives people around the world. I mean, I’m tempted to go snap my spine in half right now, just so i can get fitted up with one of these cool ass devices. Seriously, though, if they have stuff like this being developed now, what else is out there waiting for us?
