Talk Binary to Me: The Future of Brain-Computer Interfacing [Flash Forward Fridays]

Flash Forward Fridays

For the past few decades, technology has been evolving at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it rate. In this biweekly column, Insights Staff Writer Kristin Manganello will be peeling back the curtain of the present and exploring the developing technologies that may soon become standard in the not-so-distant future.

Of Neurons and Networks

A brain-computer interface (BCI), also known as a brain-machine interface (BMI), direct neural interface (DNI), mind-machine interface (MMI), or neural-control interface (NCI), is the direct communication between an external device and a brain equipped with specialized hardware or medical enhancements.

BCI works by utilizing the natural functions of the brain, specifically the brain’s neural network. The average human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons or nerve cells. These cells use electricity to process and transfer information throughout the brain via a map of neural pathways, which serves as the driving force behind every thought, feeling, and movement in the mind and body.

These currents fire through the neural landscape at terrific speeds up to 270 miles per hour. As they do so, some of the electric signal breaks away from the path. Scientists are able to observe these runaway signals, decipher what they represent, and then use them to command an external device, such as a computer or a machine.

Using this system, the communication between the brain and the machine goes in both directions. Not only can the brain control the device, but the device can transmit information directly to the brain. This symbiotic connection could potentially influence the brain to feel, see, hear, and experience sensory outputs that are not directly affecting the brain.

Brain-Computer Interfacing Techniques

BCI methods can be separated into three separate categories; invasive, semi-invasive, and non-invasive:

• Invasive BCI offers the most accurate readings but comes with great risk. This type of BCI requires that the electrodes be directly implanted into the grey matter of the brain via neurosurgery. The surgery itself is risky, and with implants, there’s always the added danger of the body rejecting the implant.
• With semi-invasive BCI methods, electrodes are embedded inside the skull but are not actually implanted into the brain. This method offers higher spatial resolutions than non-invasive techniques while also featuring less medical risk than a fully invasive implant.
• Non-invasive techniques involve the usage of technologies like electroencephalography (EEG), which uses electrodes placed along the scalp to monitor electrical activity in the brain. Although EEG offers portability, ease of use, and low cost, it’s currently severely limited for BCI applications.

Super-Powered Brains

Currently, the vast majority of BCI research is dedicated to improving medical conditions, including blindness, neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injuries, amputations, and more. There is also a growing interest in leveraging BCI for other applications.

For example, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) recently commissioned six organizations to develop non-invasive brain-machine interfaces that can be used in military applications. DARPA’s goal is to end up with wearable devices that are capable of controlling defensive systems such as drones as well as enhancing multitasking.

“DARPA is preparing for a future in which a combination of unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and cyber operations may cause conflicts to play out on timelines that are too short for humans to effectively manage with current technology alone,” Al Emondi, program manager, said in a press release.

Outside of military applications, some researchers are interested in making BCI an everyday part of life, no different than a watch or a smartphone. In China, researchers from Tianjin University and the state-owned China Electronics Corporation teamed up to develop a computer chip called the “Brain Talker.”

According to the press release, the Brain Talker works by “decoding a user’s mental intent solely through neural electrical signals, without the use of the human body’s natural neuromuscular pathways.” The main goal of the project is to create a mainstream BCI that, in addition to medical and security applications can be used for education and entertainment as well.

Science Fiction or Reality?

Although BCI devices are currently in the experimental and research phase, some industry figures, including Elon Musk, believe that implantable brain chips will become a reality in the near future. During a recent YouTube Livestream Musk announced that his neurotechnology startup company Neuralink plans to begin implanting their devices into human brains in 2020.

Musk’s aim is to create a "symbiosis with artificial intelligence” by using minuscule electrode threads to stimulate the neurons when inserted into the brain. He claimed the procedure would be painless and safe, comparing it to LASIK eye surgery, though critics of Musk feel that such a timeline is unrealistic.