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Student Corner

Musk’s Neuralink Chip Transplant

Written by: Spandan Bhattarai - 21127, Grade XII

Posted on: 14 October, 2020

Tesla founder Elon Musk has launched a startup ‘Neuralink’ to form implants that connect the human brains with computer interfaces. The technology would see groups of small, flexible electrode threads implanted into the human brain by neurosurgical robots. The threads detect the electrical signals within the brain and transmit this information outside the body which has the potential to make a scalable high bandwidth brain-machine interface system meaning that it connects the brain to an external device to form a brain-machine interface.

 The goal of neuralink is to grasp and treat different kinds of brain or spine-related disorders. However, Musk envisions the implant as a method of enhancing your own brain, humans the choice to realize interaction with AI and also eventually cause a way forward for “superhuman intelligence”.Neuralink, which was founded in 2016, has already tested an early, wired version of its implants in rats. The concept of a brain-machine interface isn't new; scientists are functioning on them for many years. There are some FDA- approved deep- brain stimulation devices meant for, among other things controlling tremors in people with Parkinson’s disease, and a number of other tech computers. 

Yet these efforts tend to be continued to labs for a variety of reasons: they’re expensive, bulky, require training and when it involves an under the skull implant, the person outfitted with it must be physically tethered to a computer for it to figure. For now, Neuralink said it's engaged on a brain chip to assist with serious medical conditions, but Musk eventually wants it to appeal to all or any sorts of people. Some within the scientific community have watched the company’s promises warily, fearing that they’ll prompt afflicted people to delay necessary procedures.

Source: edition.cnn.com