Elon Musk's Neuralink Is Ready to Implant a Second Volunteer

//Summary - Level-C2//

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company, is preparing to implant its experimental device in a second participant. The company is refining surgical procedures and implant placement to address issues encountered with the first recipient. Neuralink aims to enable paralyzed individuals to control computers through thought, with long-term goals of enhancing human-AI symbiosis. Despite initial setbacks, the technology shows promise in restoring users' independence.

In a live-streamed update on X, Elon Musk and Neuralink executives discussed the company's next study participant and its next-generation brain implant.

1)
According to Elon Musk, the company's co-founder, a second person will soon receive Neuralink's experimental brain implant.
In a video update on Wednesday, Musk said the surgery will take place in "the next week or so." The company is making changes to the surgical procedure and placement of the device to avoid problems that arose with its first participant, whose implant partially detached from the brain a few weeks after surgery.

2)
Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, that uses a person's brain signals to control an external device. Its first product, Telepathy, aims to help paralyzed people operate a computer using just their thoughts. Musk has said Neuralink is working on a second product, Blindsight, to provide artificial vision to people who are blind.

3)
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"A way to think about the Neuralink device is like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch with tiny wires or electrodes," Musk said in the video live-streamed on his social media platform, X. In the short term, the Neuralink device is meant to help people with disabilities. Still, Musk said his long-term goal is to use BCI technology "to mitigate the civilizational risk of AI by having a closer symbiosis between human intelligence and digital intelligence."

4)
For now, the company is conducting an early feasibility study to evaluate the safety and functionality of its device in people with paralysis. As part of the study, Noland Arbaugh became the first person to get Neuralink's brain implant in January. Arbaugh is paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a 2016 swimming accident.

5)
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Neuralink's coin-sized implant sits in the skull and has 64 flexible wire threads thinner than human hair that extend into the brain tissue. Each thread contains 16 electrodes that collect intended movement signals from neurons.

6)
At first, the device was functioning as it should. Arbaugh could use a cursor just by thinking about it, allowing him to play video games, email friends, and browse the Internet. However, a few weeks after the surgery, the implant started malfunctioning, and Arbaugh lost control of the cursor.

7)
In a May blog post on its website, Neuralink said several threads had retracted from Arbaugh's brain, resulting in a net decrease in the number of effective electrodes. In response, Neuralink modified its neural recording algorithm to be more sensitive and improved how it translates neural signals into cursor movements.

8)
According to Neuralink executives, Arbaugh is back to using a computer with his brain, although just 15 per cent of the implant's threads are still working. In an interview with WIRED, Arbaugh said the device had given him a sense of independence.

Still, Neuralink is trying to avoid the same issues with its second study participant. "We really want to make sure that we make as much progress as possible between each Neuralink patient," Musk said Wednesday.

9)
During the video update, company executives acknowledged that air was trapped inside Arbaugh's skull after surgery, which could have contributed to the threads coming out. Matthew MacDougall,

Neuralink's head of neurosurgery said the company is taking steps to eliminate this air pocket in its second volunteer. It plans to insert the threads more deeply into the brain tissue and track their movement.

10)
"You may think the most obvious mitigation for threads is pulled out of the brain is inserting them deeper. We think so too, and so we're going to broaden the range of depths at which we insert threads," MacDougall said.

11)
In addition, the company's surgeons plan to "sculpt the surface of the skull" to minimize the gap under the implant so that it sits flush with the normal contour of the skull. MacDougall said this should "minimize the gap under the implant" and "put it closer to the brain and eliminate some of the tension on the threads."

Musk hopes to implant Neuralink's device in study participants' "high single digits" this year. (A listing by Neuralink on ClinicalTrials.gov says the company plans to enrol three participants in its current study.)

12)
He added that Neuralink is working on a next-generation implant with 128 threads, each with eight electrodes per thread, a change that he says will "potentially double the bandwidth if we are accurate with the placement of the threads." Musk didn't provide a timeline for when that device will be ready to test in people.

Elon Musk's Neuralink Is Ready to Implant a Second Volunteer

https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-neuralink-implant-second-volunteer/

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Chinese scientists create Frankenstein robot that has a HUMAN BRAIN

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13592197/Chinese-scientists-robot-powered-human-brain.html

//Summary - Level-C2//

Chinese scientists have developed a robot powered by a lab-grown brain organoid. This organoid functions like a human brain using sensors and AI algorithms. This breakthrough might lead to methods for repairing cerebral cortex damage and treating neurological disorders. Despite promising results, the technology faces developmental challenges and is still in its early stages.

A)
READ MORE: Scientists develop an indestructible robotic hand
Chinese scientists have created a Frankenstein-like robot powered by a tiny human brain in a first-of-its-kind feat.

The robot uses a lab-grown brain organoid, a mass of cells, and a computer chip that interacts with the brain's nervous system.
It has been described as a 'brain on a chip' that functions like a human brain. It uses sensors and an AI-powered algorithm that prompts the robot to move, grab objects, and avoid obstacles.

B)
The team claimed that the brain shows signs of intelligence, similar to a human brain, by autonomously moving its extremities. It could lead to methods for repairing damage to a human's cerebral cortex and creating other techniques to heal neurological disorders.

C)
A team of Chinese scientists used stem cells – a type of cell that forms brain tissue in the body - to build the brain.
They paired it with a computer chip that passes instructions to the robot's body, a mixture of human cells and computer chips that function like a human brain.

D)
Scientists from Tianjin University created the machine using brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that combine the electrical signals released from a brain with the computer chips.

This interface is the same system used to create Elon Musk's Neuralink chip, which was implanted in a human patient's brain and allowed him to control a computer with his mind.

E)
Neuralink's device is powered by a custom chip within the implant that processes signals and transmits them to a computer through a standard Bluetooth connection.

F)
However, the Chinese researchers have not shared how they transmit signals to their organoids.

To create their 'living machine,' the team used pluripotent stem cells—a type of cell in early embryonic development—to form the organoids, which divided into different kinds of cells found in the brain, including tissue, said Ming Dong, the study's lead author.

G)
Organoids are tiny, self-organized, three-dimensional tissue cultures made from stem cells.
Such cultures can be crafted to replicate much of an organ's complexity or express selected aspects, like producing only certain types of cells.

H)
Scientists take the stem cells and cultivate them for about one month until they form features like neurons.
However, the Chinese scientists have not revealed how they trained the organoid to know when the robot should perform specific tasks.

The team said the technology still faced 'bottlenecks such as low developmental maturity and insufficient nutrient supply,' which typically include antioxidants, fibres and minerals.

I)
When the organoids were grafted into the brain, they established a functional connection when treated with a low-intensity ultrasound.
Low-intensity ultrasound stimulation regrows human tissues to form neurons that send messages from the brain to allow the robot to move autonomously.

Researchers explained that the robot does not have eyes and only responds through the electrical and sensory signals sent by the neurons.

J)
The team clarified that the pink blob atop the robot's shoulders in the images is just a cosmetic representation of what the brain will look like, not the actual tissue still being used in prototypes.

'Brain organoid transplants are considered a promising strategy for restoring brain function by replacing lost neurons and reconstructing neural circuits,' the study said, according to the South China Morning Post.

K)
However, the research is still in the early stages of development, and it remains unclear if organoids can ever be used to repair or reconstruct damaged brain tissues.

This comes days after scientists in Japan grafted human skin tissue and skin-ligament structures onto a robot's face to create a human-like expression of emotions.

L)
Scientists at the University of Tokyo released a video showing a bizarre, smiling robotic face from lab-grown human skin.
According to the team, robots with natural skin have an 'increasingly lifelike appearance' and could heal themselves if damaged.