Ready for a super brain boost? A remarkable new chip may make it possible.
Brain implants—also known as neural implants—have come a long way since early research into the science began nearly 60 years ago.
Using an advanced neural chip, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California implanted a device into the brains of five rhesus monkeys. Their goal was to expand upon the previous success scientists achieved during experiments with rats.
Touted as a major step forward in amplifying brains that are similar to those of humans, the breakthrough research holds great promise for treating people with debilitating ailments such as those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, brain injuries, strokes and even dementia.
The procedure and results are revealed in, “Facilitation and restoration of cognitive function in primate prefrontal cortex by a neuroprosthesis that utilizes minicolumn-specific neural firing,” a paper published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.
The neural implant not only improves memory, but actually enhances innate mental ability.
Over a period of two years, the test group of monkeys were taught how to play picture games. Their ability to solve the problems were measured over time.
After the implantation, the scores increased by about 10 percent.
Implants already being used by humans
Other less sophisticated neural implants have been embedded into the brains of humans during the past decade. For the most part the chips embedded are designed to improve motor skills, control artificial limbs or project brain waves to control computers and robots.
Recently, an astonishing breakthrough was realized when a paralyzed woman was implanted with a chip that permits her to control a robot servant merely with her thoughts.
While much of the research centers around electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) using embedded technology, some research is meeting with success using non-invasive brain manipulation technology.
Powering the implants
An early stumbling block towards long use chips in the brain was the power source. That challenge is being met by researchers at MIT who have created a “brain fuel” based on glucose.
According to a press release by MIT “Engineers created a fuel cell that breaks down the ubiquitous sugar molecule much the same way as the body does, and it could enable a new generation of self-sustaining medical devices.”
The new approach promises an easy way to power an array of bionic devices that will be used to augment different bodily functions including those done by the brain.
The dark side of implants
Harry V. Martin and David Caul wrote a series of articles exploring the dangers of emerging implant technology for the Napa Sentinel in 1991. One article focused on an early pioneer of implants and ESB technology, Dr. Jose Delgado.
Delgado gained world attention for his experiments after demonstrating the implant technology he dubbed a “stimoceiver” designed to manipulate behavior. A remote-controlled chip stimulated the brain in the implanted animal. According to Delgado, the brain could be made to move limbs at will, exhibit a full range of emotional responses, even stop an action in mid-stride.
To prove his claim, Delgado announced he would stop a bull that charged him.
“Afternoon sunlight poured over the high wooden barriers into the ring, as the brave bull bore down on the unarmed matador, a scientist who had never faced fighting bull. But the charging animal’s horn never reached the man behind the heavy red cape. Moments before that could happen, Dr. Delgado pressed a button on a small radio transmitter in his hand and the bull braked to a halt. Then he pressed another button on the transmitter, and the bull obediently turned to the right and trotted away. The bull was obeying commands in his brain that were being called forth by electrical stimulation by the radio signals to certain regions in which fine wires had been painlessly planted the day before.”
Madsciencemuseum.com adds:
“Delgado’s experiment sounds so much like science fiction, that many people are surprised to learn it occurred back in 1963. During the 1970s and 80s, research into electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) languished, stigmatized by the perception that it represented an effort to control people’s minds and thoughts. But more recently, ESB research has once again been flourishing, with reports of researchers creating remote-controlled rats, pigeons, and even sharks.”
Quest for the bionic brain
Some researchers see implants creating “amplified” brains. Such bionic brains, they claim, will enable the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak. The “amped” brain will be capable of more rapid thought, have heightened cognitive awareness, and develop a set of skill levels far surpassing the average human. Photographic memories may become commonplace and children will be fit with transplanted brain chips more regularly as those that have their tonsils removed.
Dr. Daniel H. Wilson, author of “Amped” wrote about the coming generation of superhumans and how they may adversely affect society.
“The sudden appearance of ‘super-abled’ people,” Wilson notes, “could put new and unforeseen strains on our society. For example, what happens when mentally sharp, physically capable retirees return to the workforce by the millions? When your child is the only kid…without an implant and…has the lowest test scores to prove it, will you agree to put [your son or daughter] under the knife? Will professional sports teams let superabled people play, or is that cheating? Would you hire one over a ‘regular’ person? Should a person be required to reveal the presence of an implant? Or will that just open the door for discrimination?”
Such technology raises a plethora of legal, ethical, moral and societal questions. Yet as Wilson points out: “Humanity has been co-evolving with technology for more than 100,000 years. Together with our tools, we are on a grand, generation-spanning trajectory. Whether we like it or not, the next step of this evolution is on the near horizon.”
Whether this latest tool in humanity’s “toolbox” is ultimately used for good or evil rests solely on the society that wields such power.
