Musk claims Neuralink patient can move computer mouse through thought alone
The test subject who received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink in late January is now able to move a computer mouse with his thoughts, according to company founder Elon Musk. The breakthrough is being seen as a first step in controlling computers without physical actions.
Neuralink’s could revolutionise the quality of life for people who are immobile or less mobile.
Musk gave the update via Spaces, a channel for making audio calls on his social network X (formerly Twitter). “Progress is good, and the patient seems to have fully recovered, with no adverse effects that we are aware of,” he posted. “The patient is able to move a mouse across the screen just by thinking.”
According to Musk, the next step now is to get the patient to click the mouse as much as possible, and gather information around that.
These are the first steps toward achieving Neuralink’s ultimate goal. This first product, Telepathy, should enable people with muscle diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to use computers.
Musk claims that the implants could eventually be used to treat obesity, depression, autism and schizophrenia.
The implant measures brain waves in the area of the brain that controls movements. Neuron spikes signal that the subject wants something to move, which is converted into a wireless signal to the computer.
The first test subject received such an implant in late January following a surgical procedure. This involved removing a small piece of the skull.
Neuralink obtained US Federal Drug & Alcohol approval in September 2023 to test the implant on humans. The fact that the device is wireless makes it revolutionary: without being attached to a computer or measuring device, the step to daily use is reduced.
However, Neuralink still has a long way to go.
Within the scientific community, there is also criticism of the project. For example, the research was not registered in the National Institute of Health’s database, which is a first step in being allowed to publish results in scientific journals. This lack of transparency has come in for criticism from scientists and groups that might benefit from the technology.
For now, we can only rely on the information communicated by Elon Musk. Due to the lack of scientific data on the project, it is likely that Neuralink still has a long way to go.
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