The first direct brain-computer hookups have already been achieved in paralyzed patients but with limited success. At least three research teams, have government approval to implant chips containing 100 tiny electrodes into the brains of five quadriplegics to see if their thoughts can operate computers.

These experiments have pushed science into a new era, the age of the “cyborg”, where the combination of brain and machine, is now possible. The research is not just aimed at the handicapped; fit people may also be able to greatly expand the capacity of their minds. People are very bad at remembering lot of things and, our calculation ability is only fair. By installing chips into a brain, the two-way brain-machine interface could give people expanded memory banks and super calculating power. Implanted computer chips, for example, could enable people to quickly learn a foreign language and master other tough subjects.

Researchers are learning how to harness brainpower to machines so that paralyzed people can use thoughts to operate, not just computers, but wheelchairs, robots and other mechanical devices. The Department of Defense funds much of the research in hopes of using thought control to fly airplanes and maneuver combat robots in dangerous war zones.

Researchers are driven by several themes, and the basic idea that governs all the research is that the brain is modifiable - it's like plastic, and has adaptive capacity, Our future lies in exploring the limits of ways to optimize recovery of brain function, reorganization and plasticity. This raises astonishing questions like How far can the brain go? Is the body in which it resides actually holding back its full potential? The University of Chicago's Hatsopoulos is trying to find out the solutions to some of these questions and thinks there may be a way to get the brain to run a computer at warp speed.

It also raises some disturbing questions like, who would have access to electronic mind-enhancers. Would companies and other institutions coerce employees to have chips implanted in their brains to gain a competitive edge? Would chips be given to children? Would they be used to control the behavior of sex offenders and others? Would it change our notion of what it means to be human? And the most important one is: how much can I do this and still be me? To these questions no one has the answers, but we hope to find out soon enough.

At this moment in history better understanding of the human body and development of tools for direct human-machine interaction have opened completely new opportunities. Before brain-computer interfaces can become a reality for therapy or to enhance mental abilities, a lot more research must be done. But the field is moving fast and is energized as never before.

Source:

Kotulak, Ronald “Considered science fiction neural technology is opening doors.” The Chicago Tribune 03 August, 2004: The State College (Pennsylvania) Centre Daily Times

http://www.temple.edu/ispr/examples/ex04_08_11.html

Chicago Tribune via The State College (Pennsylvania) Centre Daily Times (http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/9308539.htm)