Scientists have already succeeded in implanting electrodes in humans, which can, in turn, read activity of brain cells and send it to a computer for processing. Combined with robotics, this means that patients who are completely paralyzed, are still able to control artificial legs and arms – just by using their thoughts, as they become an extension of the nervous system altogether. These complicated brain-computer interfaces are a great opportunity for scientists to study the workings of the human brain at a neuron-level. However, it also brings up the question if combining man and machine is something we’ll see more often. In the world we know today, perhaps cyborgs are no longer science fiction.
Image source: New York Times
Paralyzed no more
Jan Scheuermann has a couple of weekly appointments in a laboratory of the University of Pittsburgh. The woman is quadriplegic, was diagnosed with spinocerebellar degeneration and is confined to a wheelchair. She visits the laboratory two or three times in a week, where scientists connect her brain to a computer via electrodes. These so-called brain-computer interfaces are still in early stages of development and incredibly complicated but offer a glimpse of what the future could look like.
Image source: UPMC
The woman has two ‘ports’ in her skull, which can be used to connect with an artificial ligament. In this case, Jan uses a black and realistically shaped metal prosthesis, which allows her to make smaller, refined movements as well. Jan is one of a couple of dozen human test subjects who have received an implant in her brain for the brain-computer interface experiment. The experiment is being conducted worldwide and will still take a couple of years until it is fully completed, but is incredibly interesting nonetheless. The experiment started in 2012 and the results so far are astonishing.
Image source: UPMC
Admittedly, Jan is the person who reacts best to the experiment. She can manipulate her artificial arm just by giving it a quick thought – scientists even claim that she has acquired the skills to operate the arm perfectly. Jan can use her fingers separately and with the utmost precision. Shaking hands isn’t a problem at all. Unwrapping a chocolate cookie and eating it? That would seem like an impossible task for most people using a prosthesis, but it’s just another day on the job for Jan, although it did take a while for Jan to get to that point.
Image source: UPMC
Jan recalls using her robotic arm for the very first time in an interview with Scientific American:
“When I first started, I learned to move it left and right, and up and down, and after that, I learned to open and close the fingers. Then I turned the wrist. With every new ability they gave me, I was reminded of what most babies do at some point. When my kids were three or four months old, they learned finally that they could control the things at the ends of their arms. I remember seeing them slowly turning their wrist this way and that, grasping and ungrasping their fingers. And eventually, it became automatic for them, too. That image kept popping into my mind. I felt like a baby learning to use my hands.”
Image source: UPMC
The woman started losing control of her muscles in 1996, and it was a gradual process. Her condition, spinocerebellar degeneration, is hereditary. As it is a progressive disease, Jan was forced to quit her job a couple of years after she was diagnosed. In 2002, the woman was confined to a wheelchair and could use her chin to control it. The only muscles that haven’t been paralyzed are those in her head and her neck area.
Unfortunately, the signals from her brain simply don’t make it to her arms and legs via the spine – but what if we took a digital approach instead? Instead of the brain giving commands to the body’s ligaments, it can directly interface with a computer via electrodes and operate robotic ligaments instead.
Image source: Dogonews
The tiny electrodes are implanted into the brain’s motoric cortex, the part of the brain responsible for controlling movements. According to the scientists, their brain-computer interface is capable of registering data of 150 brain cells. The whole installation uses rather large cables, which transfer the data of the brain’s neural activity back to a computer.
Image source: UPMC
So, how is Jen able to move her robotic arm?
Image source: High T3ch
Whenever Jen thinks about moving her robotic arm that thought itself will produce a number of oscillation patterns in the electrical activity of the neurons, which can be directly interpreted by a computer program.
These patterns are unique to each thought, which means they can be loosely ‘translated’ to an operational command for a robotic ligament. This translation is then used as a digital command to move the arm, in this case.
Image source: UPMC
As stated before, eating a bar of chocolate or even a slice of cheese isn’t a problem at all. With her brain-computer interface and robotic arm, Jen can finally eat independently again. It does take a large amount of training, but Jen constantly keeps improving. In fact, every time Jen breaks her own record for performing a specific task, all the researchers in the lab give her some well-deserved applause. “Hooray, a new world record,” the whole room shouts as Jen is proud to call herself a ‘privileged test subject.’
Image source: UPMC
“I also have come to appreciate my brain even more. I’ve seen people who have arms that work and legs that work, but their brains don’t. They’re mentally handicapped. I’d so much rather have my brain than my legs. You know that quote, ‘you are more than the body you live in’? That’s so true for me.”
Image: Example of a brain interface, illustrated on a dummy. Source: Public domain.
Jen’s story is certainly remarkable and gives hope to people who are severely paralyzed. Using your thoughts to control ligaments is something that was only seen in science fiction for a long time, but is no longer fiction today. Part human, part robot – many scientists claim that these are the first steps towards cyborgs. Moreover, even though these developments are still young, they offer an incredible amount of potential. More importantly, they offer hope to people confined in wheelchairs, giving them hope that one day – they could use objects independently and perhaps even walk around again.
Image source: MGIgnitors
Combined with robotic exoskeletons, it is simply a matter of time before wheelchairs become a thing of the past.
From thoughts to action
This experiment, along with previous experiments performed on rodents and primates – have definitely contributed to science in a big way. Neuroscientists have a much better understanding of what’s going on in the brain when people acquire, learn and perfect new skills. Networks and connections in the brain change all the time, and this change was noticeable in the learning process of Jen’s robotic arm. The phrase ‘practice makes perfect’ is now something that scientists can finally investigate further thanks to the brain-computer interface research.
Image source: Medical Xpress
Learning how to use a computer cursor is a good example to see how the brain works when acquiring a completely new skill. As it turns out, you only need around two brain cells to learn how to control a computer cursor, but it’s not only these two cells that are responsible for the learning process. The rest of the brain contributes as well, especially at first. Experiments have shown with test subjects and implanted neurons, that learning how to use a cursor mobilizes neurons in a number of different brain areas first. After some practice and repetition, those mobilized brain areas will become less and less active. The brain has created a sort of routine, an automatism, to acquiring a new skill – similar to Jen slowly but surely being able to use her robotic arm in a precise fashion.
Image source: The Manufacturer
This concludes the first part of a series of articles I am planning on this subject regarding human robotics. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image source: Nautilus
- ScienceDaily
- Brain-Computer Interface: University of Chicago, Illinois & University of Minnesota
- Using brain–computer interfaces to induce neural plasticity and restore function
- University of Pittsburgh
- Nautilus
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