Behind Elon Musk’s brain chip: Decades of research and lofty ambitions to meld minds with computers

It wasn’t the first tiny device to be implanted in a human brain.

It wasn’t the first tiny device to be implanted in a human brain. Still, Elon Musk’s announcement on Monday turned heads in the small community of scientists who have spent decades working to treat certain disabilities and conditions by tapping directly into the body’s nervous system.

“Getting a device into a person is no small feat,” said Robert Gaunt, an associate professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh. “But I don’t think even Elon Musk would have taken on a project like this if it were not for the research and demonstrated capability over decades in neuroscience.”

Musk’s announcement was sudden and offered little information beyond the news itself: “The first human received an implant from @Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well. Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”

Many scientists applauded Neuralink’s announcement, while also cautiously noting that the company’s clinical trial is in very early stages and not much information has been released publicly. Still, researchers said Neuralink has made significant gains and is doing exactly what startups are good at: taking what has been learned through basic science and trying to make a real, viable product.

It’s too soon to know if Neuralink’s implant will be effective in humans, but the company’s announcement is an “exciting development,” said Gaunt, whose own work focuses on using implants — devices known as brain-computer interfaces — to restore motor control and functions like people’s sense of touch.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/neuralink-elon-musk-science-behind-rcna136352

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