6 Minute Read
Published Dec 2022
I’ve been fascinated by the brain for a long time. I aim to map out the world rationally to best understand it and my role in it. I think I’ve done a pretty good job, but to understand how I rationalize I need to get an understanding of the brain. It’s the meta organ behind all of human civilization throughout all of time.
Everything from movement, psychology, to aging and other brain related issues you need to understand the brain.
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Let me tell you a story about Ned. Ned is a man in his late 40s driving home from work after a stressful day at the office. As a manager, he has to make sure his department is effective at the goals they were assigned. That day, one of his team members quit, stating he had found a new role a couple of weeks ago and hadn’t contributed to their current project at all, putting the whole team behind. His daughter had also gotten in trouble in school and got suspended and he was anxious about getting home.
As he pulls up to a gas station to refuel his car, he has difficulty using his right arm to turn right. He feels sluggish getting out of his car but blames it on his tiredness. Someone asks if everything is alright as they walk by him on the way to the cashier to pay. He waves them off. He tries to lift the gas pump to fuel his car and finds he can’t perform this simple task he had performed thousands of times prior.
He wakes up in the hospital connected to a heart rate monitor. He wonders how he got there. The doctors tell him he had a stroke and he will be paralyzed on his right side for the rest of his life…
While this is manufactured episode, many such cases exist. For many years it was thought that for life, meant for life. But there’s some fascinating research into brain computer interfaces being done that may break that notion.
There are experiments where people who have had strokes are given electroencephalography (EEG) devices to read their motor cortex. If the patient intends to move their arm, their brain shows corresponding signals and moves an exoskeleton that controls their arm. Over time, these patients are able to start moving their arm on their own, because their brain formed new neural pathways for movement in the motor cortex!
First, a primer on BCIs.
BCIs, or brain-computer interfaces, are systems that allow people to control computers and other devices using only their thoughts. These systems work by detecting and interpreting electrical signals in the brain, which are then translated into commands that the computer or device can understand.
As mentioned previously, BCIs have the potential to enable people with disabilities to communicate and control devices in ways that were previously impossible.
In the future, imagine simply thinking and searching on Google. Or even getting the answer streamed into your brain. BCIs could also be used in a variety of other applications, such as gaming and entertainment, where you could control virtual objects or characters using their thoughts. They could also be used in the medical field, for example to monitor brain activity or help diagnose and treat brain disorders.