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Living with a Brain Chip: Insights from Neuralink’s First User

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Noland Arbaugh, a 30-year-old resident of Arizona, describes the Neuralink brain chip as his bridge back to the world. Despite having a computer chip embedded in his skull and electrodes in his brain, Arbaugh says he wouldn’t be aware of its presence if he hadn’t undergone the surgery. “If I lost my memory and someone told me I had something implanted in my brain, I probably wouldn’t believe it,” says Arbaugh, who has been paralyzed from the neck down since a swimming accident in 2016. “I feel no sensation—there’s no way to tell it’s there unless someone physically presses on it.”

The Neuralink chip might be imperceptible physically, but its impact on Arbaugh’s life is significant. The chip, implanted during a robotic surgery in January, has allowed him to reconnect with the world in new ways as part of Neuralink’s first approved human trial.

While brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been around for decades, Neuralink, owned by Elon Musk, has drawn significant attention. This renewed focus is due to the technology’s potential to improve life for people with quadriplegia, like Arbaugh, and those with other disabilities or neurodegenerative diseases.

BCIs work by recording electrical activity in the brain and translating it into actions, such as moving a robotic hand or clicking a computer mouse. Designs vary in their level of invasiveness and the resolution of data they capture. Neuralink’s implant is an intracortical device, meaning it uses electrodes embedded directly in the brain tissue to capture neural activity closely.

Capturing neural activity can be like trying to eavesdrop in a noisy stadium, explains Douglas Weber, a mechanical engineer and neuroscientist at Carnegie Mellon University. The closer you get to the source, the clearer the conversation. Neuralink positions its electrodes near individual neurons in the brain’s motor cortex, enhancing the clarity of the neural signals.

Neuralink is not the first to use intracortical electrodes. The Utah Array, developed in the 1990s, has been the standard, but Neuralink’s design integrates multiple advances into a single wireless device. Jennifer Collinger, a biomedical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh, notes, “They’ve combined the best elements from various technologies.”

The Link’s electronic hub connects to 64 fine threads with a total of 1,024 electrodes—ten times more than a Utah Array. It transmits neural data via Bluetooth, with algorithms translating the signals into actions.

Within a week of surgery, Arbaugh could move a digital cursor by mentally willing his paralyzed limb to move or simply by picturing the cursor’s path. He uses both methods, finding them intuitive and allowing multitasking.

Before the implant, Arbaugh used voice commands or a mouth stick to interact with a computer. Now, he operates his computer independently and more comfortably. Leigh Hochberg, a neurointensive care physician, says the best BCIs should feel as natural as voluntary movement.

Neuralink reports that Arbaugh has set records for BCI cursor control, achieving eight bits per second in speed and accuracy. He uses his device extensively for browsing, messaging, social media, apps, and gaming. The main drawback is the need to charge the device regularly, requiring Arbaugh to wear a hat with a wireless charger. Despite this, Arbaugh finds the experience mostly seamless, although he did face a moment when the device nearly stopped working in February.

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