Elon Musk claims Neuralink could ‘enable paraplegics to walk again’
Elon Musk has shared a video of a monkey using his Neuralink this morning, which showed it playing a video game with computer chips in its mind.
Neuralink has begun developing an implanted, wireless brain-machine interface (BMI) which could aid people with paralysis to use their brain activity to operate computers.
“First Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs,” Musk tweeted this morning.
“Later versions will be able to shunt signals from Neuralinks in brain to Neuralinks in body motor/sensory neuron clusters, thus enabling, for example, paraplegics to walk again.”
To achieve this, the Link would read brain signals and use them to stimulate nerves and muscles in the body, allowing the person to control their own limbs.
The monkey controlled the game’s cursor using the Link, one of which was implanted in the left motor cortex, which controls movements of the right side of the body, and another in the right motor cortex, which controls the left side of the body.