Humans have gotten pretty good at fixing themselves. Broken bones, torn ligaments, shoddy eyesight, they've done a good job at creating technology that can aid in healing, or, if healing is not possible, they've created technology to replace the function they might have lost. This innovation has met a big, unyielding wall when it comes to the brain. Injuries or neurodegenerative diseases have not had the same innovation as other parts of the human body. However, researchers have begun to try to change that.
Dr. Lawrence Behmer is interested in the marriage of the brain and technology, called brain-computer interface(BCI). BCIs, as explained by Dr. Behmer, come in many iterations such as EEG bands, skull caps, or even brain implants. They all serve to help technology communicate with the brain and its signals. One of the main issues Dr. Behmer brought up with BCIs is there inability to accurately read the brain. For example, with the robotic arm controlled by thoughts there was an inability to make real-time, online corrections to movement. If the arm moved to pick up a glass of water, once the action was initiated, there was no stopping that arm even if the glass of water was no longer there.
One problem BCIs aim to solve is for comatose or "locked in" patients to be able to communicate. This correlates exactly with Dr. Behmer's research; even though his dealt with motor systems, the current roadblock of ascertaining the right signal to look at in the brain versus all the grey matter noise is the same as with researchers trying to use BCIs to mimic speech. These types of mind-reading problems are due to current technologies' limitations in temporally and spatially accurately mapping out the signals of the brain. Yet there has been some breakthroughs in understanding the brain that can ultimately lead to better BCIs.
For example, a study about to be published in the next issue of Cerebral Cortex has found that the brain has an overlap in neuronal firing when imagining sound compared to the neuronal firing of perceived sound. This is very important as current BCIs used to interpret and predict speech of comatose patients is a flip of the coin at predicting what patients intended to say. Current technologies are about 40% accurate at predicting intended speech. This new discovery will help future BCIs overcome the current hazy interpretations of neuronal signalling we currently have as knowing that the brain's auditory and speech imaginings are the same as what it experiences helps create a clearer, more interpretable image.
The concept of BCIs has been here for decades. Though it has been present for a long time, the field, as stated by Dr. Behmer, is in its infancy. There are still new innovations to be made as well as new discoveries about the brain to be made.
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon. “With Brain Implants, Scientists Aim to Translate Thoughts into Speech.” Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/article/with-brain-implants-scientists-aim-to-translate-thoughts-into-speech/.
Dr. Lawrence Behmer is interested in the marriage of the brain and technology, called brain-computer interface(BCI). BCIs, as explained by Dr. Behmer, come in many iterations such as EEG bands, skull caps, or even brain implants. They all serve to help technology communicate with the brain and its signals. One of the main issues Dr. Behmer brought up with BCIs is there inability to accurately read the brain. For example, with the robotic arm controlled by thoughts there was an inability to make real-time, online corrections to movement. If the arm moved to pick up a glass of water, once the action was initiated, there was no stopping that arm even if the glass of water was no longer there.
One problem BCIs aim to solve is for comatose or "locked in" patients to be able to communicate. This correlates exactly with Dr. Behmer's research; even though his dealt with motor systems, the current roadblock of ascertaining the right signal to look at in the brain versus all the grey matter noise is the same as with researchers trying to use BCIs to mimic speech. These types of mind-reading problems are due to current technologies' limitations in temporally and spatially accurately mapping out the signals of the brain. Yet there has been some breakthroughs in understanding the brain that can ultimately lead to better BCIs.
For example, a study about to be published in the next issue of Cerebral Cortex has found that the brain has an overlap in neuronal firing when imagining sound compared to the neuronal firing of perceived sound. This is very important as current BCIs used to interpret and predict speech of comatose patients is a flip of the coin at predicting what patients intended to say. Current technologies are about 40% accurate at predicting intended speech. This new discovery will help future BCIs overcome the current hazy interpretations of neuronal signalling we currently have as knowing that the brain's auditory and speech imaginings are the same as what it experiences helps create a clearer, more interpretable image.
The concept of BCIs has been here for decades. Though it has been present for a long time, the field, as stated by Dr. Behmer, is in its infancy. There are still new innovations to be made as well as new discoveries about the brain to be made.
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon. “With Brain Implants, Scientists Aim to Translate Thoughts into Speech.” Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/article/with-brain-implants-scientists-aim-to-translate-thoughts-into-speech/.
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