NeuraLink - Friend or Foe?

We all are familiar with the world's greatest physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking. I'm sure the name does ring a bell to most of you. Well for those of you who do know him or at least have seen the movie "The Theory of Everything", haven't you ever wondered how life would have been for him after he reached his peak with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease? Well, we aren't going to dive deep into that. But Imagine if Stephen Hawking or any person with ALS or MDS or Motor Neuron Disease for that matter could control technology without anyone's help. No, we are not talking about Telekinesis. We are talking about NEURALINK. 

In the previous week, the world saw Elon Musk, one of the greatest entrepreneurs and innovators introduce a device called, 'TELEPATHY'. Yes, the parent company 'NeuraLink launched an innovation so futuristic that it allows people with motor neuron diseases to control technology with just their thoughts. In more scientific terms "It is a brain implant designed to help people with severe paralysis in controlling external technologies solely through neural signals." But how is this possible? This is what NeuraLink had to say about their product on their website "We place a small, cosmetically invisible implant in a part of the brain that plans movements. The device is designed to interpret a person's neural activity, so they can operate a computer or smartphone by simply intending to move, no wires or physical movement are required.” This might be too much information for us to digest in one go. So let us start from the basics. Let us ask the real questions. What is NeuraLink? Why do we need it? How does it work?

What is NeuraLink?

It is a system that involves ultra-thin probes being inserted into the brain, a neurosurgical robot to perform the operations, and a high-density electronic system capable of processing information from neurons. This coin-sized brain chip is surgically embedded under the skull, where it receives information from neural threads that fan out into different sections of a person's brain in control of motor skills. Each wire contains sensors capable of recording and emitting electrical currents that are “so fine and flexible that they can’t be inserted by the human hand".

Why do we need it ?

It is a device that can be used to solve the physical and mental disabilities of so many people. Make them feel like they can do things too just like other people. And this could be simple things like using their smartphone, surfing the web, scrolling, or even typing. Someone with Paraplegia ( paralysis that occurs in the lower half of the body)  would be able to manipulate a computer or mobile device using speech or text synthesis to create digital art. Brain-computer interfaces can also detect changes that may indicate neurological conditions such as epilepsy, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s disease. They can also be used to monitor mental health symptoms. Electrical stimulation could be delivered to targeted areas in the brain as a treatment for burnout, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, which, unlike motor skills that are localized to one area, are spread throughout the brain.

How does it work ?

Well, Neuralink’s underlying technology works in the same way as electrophysiology. The electrical chemical signals in the nervous system spark as neurons communicate with one another across gaps between nerve cells known as 'synapses'. This brain activity is captured by electrodes, or sensors that detect voltages, measuring the change in “spikes” of when these voltages fire (or potentially fire). In other words, our brain activity data is captured not only when we take action, but also if we think about taking action. That’s not to say the brain-computer interfacing that Neuralink does is on the same level as mind reading. “It simply measures the brain activity and interprets it as an action,” said Sonal Baberwal, a Dublin City University-based researcher developing machine learning algorithms built into brain-computer interface wearables. Baberwal compared this procedure to how blood pressure interprets a patient’s level of stress or relaxation. “Similarly with your brain signals, eyes closed or opened, a relaxed or deep-sleep state, an action or focus state, all of these aspects can be detected”, she added. As these devices record complex data sets, machine learning algorithms and other artificial intelligence agents are then employed to make sense of the information. 

Now you might be wondering how this can help a person with Alzheimer's since their primary problem is not Motor neuron issues but memory right? Well, this doesn't help an Alzheimer's patient directly, but Neuralinks help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease from brain images, allowing doctors to recognize the onset of this disease sooner, than later. Alzheimer's mainly causes the weakening of neuron signals from one Neuron to the other. If not for the current generation of Neuralink, maybe the 2nd or 3rd generation, say in the next 6 to 8 years might help advance these issues, such as strengthening these weakened signals between Neurons thereby leading to and aiding in the slow and steady improvement, and maybe even complete cure of patients suffering from Alzheimer's.

In conclusion, Neuralinks are or can bring about major advancements and improvements concerning treating diseases especially critical ones such as ALS, MDS, Alzheimer's. It may not allow those affected to regain their abilities physically. But may still allow them to use their brain power to interact with technology or sometimes even in their day-to-day activities.

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