BCIs\u00a0record and decode brain activity<\/a>, with the aim of allowing a person with severe paralysis to control a computer, robotic arm, wheelchair or other device through thought alone. Apart from Neuralink’s device, others are under development and some have already been tested in people.<\/p>\n Neurotechnology researchers are cautiously excited about Neuralink\u2019s human trial. \u201cWhat I hope to see is that they can demonstrate that it is safe. And that it is effective at measuring brain signals \u2014 short term, but, most importantly, long term,\u201d says Mariska Vansteensel, a neuroscientist at University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands and president of the international BCI Society.<\/p>\n But there is frustration about a lack of detailed information. There has been no confirmation that the trial has begun, beyond Musk’s tweet. The main source of public information on the trial is a\u00a0study brochure<\/a>\u00a0inviting people to participate in it. But that lacks details such as where implantations are being done and the exact outcomes that the trial will assess, says Tim Denison, a neuroengineer at the University of Oxford, UK.<\/p>\n The trial is not registered at\u00a0ClinicalTrials.gov<\/a>, an online repository curated by the US National Institutes of Health. Many universities require that researchers register a trial and its protocol in a public repository of this type before study participants are enrolled. Additionally, many medical journals make such registration a condition of publication of results, in line with ethical principles designed to protect people who volunteer for clinical trials. Neuralink, which is headquartered in Fremont, California, did not respond to\u00a0Nature<\/i>\u2019s request for comment on why it has not registered the trial with the site.<\/p>\n Nature<\/i>\u00a0examines how Neuralink\u2019s implants compare to other BCI technologies, how the trial will advance BCIs and researchers\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n How is the chip different from other BCIs?<\/strong><\/p>\n Like Blackrock Neurotech in Salt Lake City, Utah, Neuralink targets the activity of individual neurons \u2014 an approach that requires electrodes that penetrate the brain. Other companies are developing electrodes that sit on the brain\u2019s surface \u2014 some of which are easily removable \u2014 to record averaged signals produced by populations of neurons. Neuroscientists have long argued that data from individual neurons are needed for sophisticated thought-decoding. But recent research indicates that averaged signals can\u00a0allow decoding of complex cognitive processes<\/a>, such as inner speech1<\/a><\/sup>. And New York City-based company Synchron has shown that a low-bandwidth surface BCI can\u00a0provide basic but reliable smartphone control<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n Like the Synchron system, Neuralink\u2019s is fully implanted and wireless. That\u2019s a first for BCIs that record from individual neurons. Previous such systems had to be physically connected to a computer through a port in the skull. This poses an infection risk and limits real-world usage.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/d41586-024-00304-4_26692084.webp\")
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