Bioengineers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have developed a new computational algorithm to improve the function of brain-computer interfaces. This algorithm works by finding common patterns of activity over time and outperforms the existing best algorithms. Continue reading Decoding Your Brain: The Search for Stability at the Brain-Computer Interface
For those who lose or lack the ability to speak, communication can be slow and painstaking. For example, towards the end of his life famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking communicated solely through the movement of a single cheek muscle as a result of his motor neuron disease (ASL). With the aim of finding a solution to this problem, a team at University of California have coupled … Continue reading Read My Mind: An Implant That Translates Brain Activity into Speech
The concept of mind control sounds like something that only exists in sci-fi movies. Until now. Recent work from Zhejiang University on developing a system appears to allow human mind control over the rat’s movements. This “brain-to-brain interface”, or BBI, is achieved by wirelessly coupling the brains of a human operator and a “rat cyborg” and transmitting brain activity in real time. Brain cells communicate … Continue reading Scientists control rat’s movements with their minds
by Julia Nguyen figures by Alexandra Was What would you give for a brain chip that seamlessly translates any language into your native tongue? Or a retinal implant that lets you see in the dark? Or an implant that lets you record every single memory and experience in your life and replay it at any moment? This is all science fiction, but it may not … Continue reading Building a Better Human: How scientists plan to merge man and machine to transcend human limitations