Dr. Matthew MacDougall: Neuralink & Technologies to Enhance Human Brains| Episode 126
Main Takeaways
The brain is a high-stakes organ with functional modules that can go wrong and lead to impaired function and quality of life post-surgery.
Protecting the brain is difficult as the design of the skull leaves humans open to vulnerabilities, with most traumatic brain injuries caused by car accidents, environmental accidents, and falls.
Improved technology and surgery, such as the use of direct MRI visualization, have made previously inoperable tumors or surgeries that had catastrophic collateral damage safer.
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to form and strengthen connections, but it decreases with age, making it harder to learn new things or break old habits.
Neuralink makes neural implants and delivers them with a robotic insertion device to reduce human suffering, focusing on repairing motor movement in people with spinal cord injury or paralysis.
Neuralink hopes to eventually bring AI embedded in the brain to augment human capabilities, but for now, motor control is the focus.
RFID tags are small, implantable chips that can connect to devices such as phones and door locks without a battery or need for charging and last a lifetime.
Bluetooth devices emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs), but the energy levels are likely too small to cause tumors, and the body is assumed to have ways of cleansing itself.
Brain-machine interfaces have the potential to learn from the nervous system they're supporting, and coupling AI with human intelligence could help both improve over time.
Neuralink goes to great lengths to ensure animal welfare during research and hosts symposiums to discuss progress and goals.
