Recently, Elon Musk, founder of the neural technology company Neuralink, revealed that the first human recipient of the company's Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) device has recovered well and is able to control a computer cursor with their thoughts.
The Neuralink logo overlaid on an illustration of the human brain. Image source: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty
Researchers at Neuralink are aiming to enable users to "click as many buttons as possible just by thinking about it," including left and right mouse clicks, and dragging boxes on the screen by holding down the mouse.
On January 29, Musk announced that Neuralink had implanted a brain-computer interface (BCI) in a human for the first time. Neuralink is the third company to embark on long-term human trials.
Most implanted BCIs are placed on the surface of the brain, recording the average firing of groups of neurons, but Neuralink's BCI penetrates the brain, recording the activity of individual neurons. Neuralink's BCI includes 1024 electrodes, significantly more than previous systems.
However, Musk provided few details and no evidence regarding the surgical outcomes, making it difficult to assess the scientific advancement of this BCI implantation. Sameer Sheth, a neurosurgeon at Baylor College of Medicine specializing in implanted neural technologies, stated that the company "shares only the parts of the information they want us to know."
Previously, Neuralink also developed a surgical robot for inserting devices, but it has not been confirmed whether this robot was used for the BCI human implantation. Little information is available about the first recipient, although Neuralink's volunteer recruitment manual suggests that individuals with certain diseases leading to limb paralysis "may qualify."
Musk stated on the social media platform X that the volunteer "seems to have fully recovered, with no adverse effects that we know of," and "can move the mouse on the screen just by thinking."
However, for researchers in the field of implanted neural technologies, this achievement is not remarkable.
"Human control of cursors is not new," said Bolu Ajiboye, a BCI researcher at Case Western Reserve University in the United States. In 2004, the first human with long-term BCI implantation controlled a cursor with it, and non-human primates have done so for much longer.
Achieving this feat also does not require data from individual neurons. The BCI from the US company Synchron is placed in brain blood vessels, recording the average firing of groups of neurons and controlling cursor and "left-click" functions.
Controlling a computer mouse with thoughts can restore independence and some functions to paralyzed patients. But this falls far short of Musk's ambitions for the Neuralink device. Musk said, "Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a typist or auctioneer; that's our goal."
Previously, researchers developed implanted high-density electrode systems that allow paralyzed participants to operate prosthetic arms and hands and communicate by decoding language in their minds. Ajiboye expects Neuralink to replicate some of these achievements soon.
Researchers say that at this stage, the safety of the device and surgery is more important. Neuralink has released videos online of a robotic surgeon stitching components of the implant onto gel, but Sheth said he and other researchers know nothing about the system's first clinical applications.
Nevertheless, scientists welcome Neuralink's progress. "The more companies involved in human brain-machine interfaces, the better for driving the field forward," Ajiboye said.
