<h2>MOOD RING</h2>
<p>How are researchers supposed to know if the subjects of their experiments are happy, sad or depressed? A patient&#8217;s own description, presumably, sometimes just doesn&#8217;t cut it. A team of neuroscientists <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2178972-weve-cracked-the-brains-emotion-code-and-it-may-help-depression/">figured out a way</a> to read a person&#8217;s mood by analyzing their brainwaves. It&#8217;s more than just a party trick — it&#8217;s first time scientists have made an explicit connection between brainwaves and emotional states, and it could have far-reaching implications for the future of treatments for mood disorders.</p>
<p>They describe their technique in study published Monday in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4200"><em>Nature Biotechnology</em></a>.</p>
<h2>ELECTRODE SLIDE</h2>
<p>The scientists worked with <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uosc-rdm091018.php">seven volunteer subjects</a> whose brains had already been implanted with electrodes as part of their treatment for epilepsy.</p>
<p>Over the course of several days, researchers collected neural signals from those patients&#8217; implants, as well as questionnaires about the patients&#8217; moods.</p>
<p>The brainwaves associated with a particular mood looked different in each patient, the researchers found. But the scientists were still able to create software that finds correlations between a patient&#8217;s brainwave data and corresponding questionnaire. Eventually, it could infer that patient&#8217;s mood by analyzing the neural signals alone.</p>
<h2>BRAIN BOOST</h2>
<p>Granted, this study only included a handful of patients (those with sensitive detection devices already embedded in their brains, at that) over a short period of time. And the researchers didn&#8217;t figure out precisely <em>why</em> certain brainwaves were associated with particular moods</p>
<p>Still, though, the researchers believe their work could pave the way for treatments that build on deep brain stimulation, a technique in which an implant stimulates the brain to treat conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression.</p>
<p>Farther into the future, though, such an implant <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mapping-moods-in-the-human-brain-1536591601?ns=prod/accounts-wsj">could keep tabs </a>on a patient&#8217;s emotional state — and, if it detected an abnormality, give them a jolt to help bring them back to normal.</p>
<p><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2178972-weve-cracked-the-brains-emotion-code-and-it-may-help-depression/">We’ve cracked the brain’s emotion code and it may help depression</a> [<em>The Wall Street Journal</em>]</p>
<p><strong><em>More on brain implants: <a href="https://futurism.com/first-time-scientists-boosted-human-memory-brain-implant/">For the First Time Ever, Scientists Boosted Human Memory With a Brain Implant</a></em></strong></p>


Are the research subjects happy, sad or depressed? Now scientists don't have to even ask.

This device reads your brainwaves to figure out your mood

Health & Medicine

Researchers have discovered how to translate brainwaves into the actual mood a subject is feeling — and it could lead to new treatments for depression.

This Device Reads Your Brainwaves to Figure Out Your Mood

If you're feeling down, it could someday give your brain a little boost.

<h2>Mood Loop</h2>
<p>Currently, DARPA is funding two teams which are running preliminary trials of brain implants that use specialized algorithms to detect patterns linked to mood disorders. These devices are able to deliver electrical pulses that can supposedly <a href="https://futurism.com/heres-how-sleeping-too-little-literally-transforms-your-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shock the brain into a healthier state</a>.</p>
<p>Research about these closed-loop brain implants was presented at a Society for Neuroscience meeting held in Washington, DC. There are hopes that the technology could provide a new way to treat mental illnesses that goes beyond the capabilities of currently available therapies.</p>
<p>The use of brain implants to deliver electrical pulses is referred to as deep brain stimulation, and is already used to treat ailments like Parkinson&#8217;s disease. However, while there has been some evidence to suggest that constant stimulation of particular regions of the brain <a href="https://futurism.com/researchers-depression-may-be-a-physical-illness-linked-to-inflammation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could help with chronic depression</a>, one major study saw no improvement after 90 subjects were given treatment for a year.</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jIO7h2gfYYQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>These new projects differ from previous attempts in that the implants are specially designed to tackle mental illness, and they activate only when they are needed. The idea is to only stimulate the brain intermittently, rather than constantly.</p>
<h2>Neural Nursing</h2>
<p>While the end goal for this research is to develop new treatments for conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the research group based at the University of Southern California is currently working with <a href="https://futurism.com/study-shows-marijuana-can-effectively-treat-a-severe-and-often-fatal-epilepsy-disorder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">people who suffer from epilepsy</a>. The implanted electrodes are being used to track brain activity related to mood in order to develop algorithms that can observe patterns.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the research group from Massachusetts General Hospital is mapping brain activity associated with behaviors linked to multiple different disorders, like issues pertaining to concentration or empathy. These researchers are working on a set of algorithms that can apply a pulse when the brain is distracted from a particular task, like identifying the emotion presented on a face.</p>
<p>This study has already established that electrical pulses can help performance in such tasks when applied to the areas of the brain responsible for decision-making and emotions. The team was also able to map the brain activity associated with failing or slowing down in a task when distracted, finding that stimulation could reverse the process. The next step in this research is to test algorithms that detect certain patterns that <a href="https://futurism.com/fda-approved-opioid-addiction-treatment-device/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trigger the need for stimulation</a>.</p>
<h2>Happy Medium</h2>
<p>Closed-loop stimulation has a lot of potential when it comes to applying long-term treatment, but it will require plenty of fine-tuning in order to get the best results. For example, stimulating parts of the brain associated with mood can have the unintended effect of <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-think-theyve-located-happiness-genes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">producing exaggerated happiness</a> that drowns out all other feelings.</p>
<p>This research is part of a set of ethical concerns that will shape the continued development of this technology. Implants like these could offer up real-time insights into someone&#8217;s emotions and moods, and being able to manipulate those feelings <a href="https://futurism.com/power-decode-manipulate-human-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carries certain moral obligations</a>. This research has the capacity to do some real good, but it&#8217;s important that it&#8217;s developed ethically, with these issues in mind.</p>


This technology could have profound applications.

The US military is testing mood altering, AI-controlled brain implants in humans

MRI Image Brain On Black Background

Brain implants could have a profound effect on people who suffer from conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

The US Military is Testing Mood Altering, AI-Controlled Brain Implants in Humans

DARPA is funding two projects that seek to use brain implants to treat mental illness.

<h2><b></b>One Device to Transmit Them All</h2>
<p>Many of our studies of brain function are conducted using implants that record or deliver either electrical, chemical, or optical signals. Obviously, great advances have been made in those implants, as we now have maps of the human brain and the respective areas that handle specific functions. <a href="http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(11)00504-6" target="_blank">The development of optogenetics</a> in neural systems was a considerable advancement in particular. However, as much as we now understand about the brain, there&#8217;s still so much more that&#8217;s left to explore. That&#8217;s where a study published last week in the journal <i><a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4510.html" target="_blank">Nature Neuroscience</a></i> comes into play.</p>
<figure id="attachment_72706" style="width: 400px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/the-evolution-of-brain-computer-interfaces-infographic/" target="_blank"><img class="wp-image-72706" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/BCI-Infographic-2.png" alt="BCI Infographic" width="400" height="268" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/the-evolution-of-brain-computer-interfaces-infographic/" target="_blank">CLICK TO VIEW FULL INFOGRAPHIC</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Brain research has often relied on devices that manipulate electrical, chemical, or optical signals separately. Combining these was usually &#8220;somewhat probabilisitic,&#8221; <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/multifunctional-tiny-fibers-brain-0221" target="_blank">according to Polina Anikeeva</a>, one of the more than a dozen researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and elsewhere involved in the study. &#8220;We said, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a device that could just do it all.”</p>
<p>The result was an <span class="wp-glossary wpg-tooltip" data-termid="58750" data-content="full" data-qtipstyle="dark">optogenetic</span> device that uses fibers just about 200 micrometers across, designed to mimic the flexibility of brain tissue. These multifunctional fibers were crafted using a technique researcher Benjamin Grena described as being similar to that used to make the Napoleon pastry mille feuille. Graphite flakes were added to conductive polyethylene, which was then compressed. Another sprinkling of flakes was added, the polyethlyene was compressed again, and so on until multiple layers were created. This method increased the conductivity of the polymers by four or five times.</p>
<p>According to the study&#8217;s lead writer, Seongjun Park, “That allowed us to reduce the size of the electrodes by the same amount.” Because the fibers are so small, they can also remain in the brain for a longer period of time. The next step, according to the team, is to reduce the fiber&#8217;s width even further to mimic the properties of neural tissues better. “The next engineering challenge is to use material that is even softer, to really match” the nearby brain tissue, Park said.</p>
<h2>Closer to Neural Tissue</h2>
<p>In a test conducted on mice, the researchers were able to inject viral vectors called opsins through fluid channels in the fiber. These carried genes that made neurons sensitive to light. After waiting for the opsins to take effect, the researchers sent a pulse of light through the optical waveguide. The resulting neural activity was then recorded using six electrodes made from the same fibers to pinpoint specific reactions.</p>
<p>Previously, researchers would have needed several separate devices — needles for the injection, optical fibers for the delivery of light, and multiple electrodes for recording —to conduct this same experiment.</p>
<figure style="width: 798px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/nerves-346928_960_720-1.jpg" alt="Image credit: Pixabay" width="798" height="380" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image credit: <i>Pixabay</i></figcaption></figure>
<p>As John Rogers, a Northwestern University professor who wasn&#8217;t part of the research, pointed out to MIT, “The authors report some remarkably sophisticated designs and capabilities in multifunctional fiber devices, where they create a single platform for colocalized expression, recording, and illumination in optogenetics studies of brain function. These types of advances in technologies and tools are essential to progress in neuroscience research.&#8221;</p>
<p>To be sure, this multifunctional fiber would revolutionize the continuous research into the brain&#8217;s functions. Since they are so small, “potentially, we could use many of them to observe different regions of activity,” said Anikeeva. Eventually, these fibers could help researchers not only understand the brain better and develop improved treatment plans for neurological disorders, but also build better brain computer interfaces (BCI), which are currently being used to do everything from <a href="https://futurism.com/cyborg-brain-electrodes-could-help-the-paralyzed-walk-again/" target="_blank">help paralyzed people walk again</a> to <a href="https://futurism.com/4-theres-a-brain-implant-that-could-restore-vision-to-the-blind/" target="_blank">helping the blind regain their sight</a>.</p>


Hard Science

This new device could dramatically improve how we study the brain.

MIT’s Super-Thin Wires Are Leading to a New Age in Brain Implants

This tech is about the same width as a strand of human hair.

<h2>Resting on the Brain</h2>
<p><a href="https://futurism.com/images/the-evolution-of-brain-computer-interfaces-infographic/" target="_blank">Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)</a> are the future of <a href="https://futurism.com/new-brain-implant-allows-control-of-machines-with-just-your-thoughts/" target="_blank">brain implant technologies</a> and prosthetics. Hacking the brain, however, hasn&#8217;t been easy. For one, electrodes that are implanted in the brain become less effective over time, as the scar tissue that forms around them degrades their connections to brain cells.</p>
<p>That, it would seem, is about to change as researchers from <a href="https://hms.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard Medical School</a> have been working with a new kind of implant that isn&#8217;t affected by scar tissue. Instead of penetrating the organ, these new electrodes are placed beneath the skull to rest on the surface of an animal&#8217;s brain, and they use powerful magnetic fields instead of electrodes like their predecessors to induce brain activity.</p>
<p>Their design has already been tested on mice by researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital, who published their results in the journal <i><a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/12/e1600889" target="_blank">Science Advances</a></i> last December. Next week, testing will begin on monkeys using an implant designed to restore sight in the blind. “At the end of that, we hope to have monkeys be able to navigate a maze just by perceiving light and dark or basic geometric patterns,” <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603602/this-technology-could-finally-make-brain-implants-practical/" target="_blank">explained Bernard Casse</a>, a researcher at the Xerox-PARC research institute, which invented the new implant design as part of BRAIN initiative under President Obama.</p>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/brain-1845944_960_720.jpg" alt="Image credits: Pixabay" width="640" height="380" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image credits: <i>Pixabay</i></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Improved Brain Technologies</h2>
<p>The vision-restoring implant will work by stimulating the visual cortex of the monkeys, as it tries to recreate the activity usually triggered by neuron signals from the eyes. The researchers think this will create the sensation of seeing even without actual input from the eyes. The goal is to be able to use the implant to translate signals from a camera into brain activity. It&#8217;s a unique approach to treating blindness, targeting the brain directly instead of the eyes.</p>
<figure id="attachment_71190" style="width: 400px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://goo.gl/LZuJtn" target="_blank"><img class="wp-image-71190" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/Brain-Computer-Interface.png" alt="Brain-Computer-Interface" width="400" height="268" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://goo.gl/LZuJtn" target="_blank">CLICK TO VIEW FULL INFOGRAPHIC</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Researchers see the value of being able to directly stimulate the brain. Other studies have shown how effective it could be, as in <a href="https://futurism.com/a-paralyzed-man-just-regained-the-sense-of-touch-thanks-to-a-brain-implant/" target="_blank">the case of a paralyzed Brazilian </a>man that recovered his sense of touch thanks to a brain implant or the woman with ALS who regained her <a href="https://futurism.com/experimental-brain-implant-lets-a-paralyzed-woman-communicate/" target="_blank">capacity to communicate</a> thanks to a BCI. While those studies yielded very promising results, they could be only temporary due to the scar tissue problems with traditional electrodes. This new magnetic model could make them permanent.</p>
<p>University of California, San Diego associate professor Todd Coleman thinks this new approach is promising, and he sees other uses for the technology as well. “There could be very nice applications in other parts of the body,” <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603602/this-technology-could-finally-make-brain-implants-practical/" target="_blank">he told MIT Technology Review</a>. For instance, the new implants could be used to regulate activity in the more than 100 million neurons involved in the digestive system to help people with bowel movement troubles. Additionally, Coleman is interested in exploring how the tech could be used on the vagus nerve found in the chest to control PTSD. If all goes well, these monkey trials will be the next step on the path to human testing.</p>


Enhanced Humans

Monkey trials are set to begin on these new implants.

A New Vision-Restoring Brain Implant Could Give Sight to the Blind

This tech skips the eyes and goes straight to the brain.

<h2><b></b>A Softer Material</h2>
<p>The brain is as delicate an organ as it is powerful. Everything we can do is rooted in the brain – the human body&#8217;s built in neural network. When it malfunctions, for one reason or another, there are treatments available to fix the brain. One common tool is electrode wire, which can be implanted in the brain, usually as treatment for cases of <a href="https://futurism.com/?s=epilepsy" target="_blank">epilepsy</a> or <a href="https://futurism.com/?s=parkinson%27s+disease" target="_blank">Parkinson&#8217;s disease</a>.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/treatment/surgery-treatment-options/Deep-Brain-Stimulation" target="_blank">electrode implants</a> are <a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/information/professionals/diagnosis-treatment/surgery/implanted-eeg-electrodes" target="_blank">fairly common</a>, current practice uses wires that are rather thick, measuring around 1.5 millimeters in diameter. These can sometimes hit blood vessels upon insertion, and even damage brain cells in the process. Furthermore, these electrode wires are also quite stiff and inflexible. They can also cause inflammation in the brain and, after a while, could become covered in immune cells that greatly reduce their efficiency.</p>
<p>An even smaller and softer material is necessary. Enter <a href="https://futurism.com/?s=carbon+nanotubes" target="_blank">carbon nanotubes</a>. This futuristic material has certainly been making waves in the miniaturization of devices, from smaller <a href="https://futurism.com/for-first-time-ever-carbon-nanotube-transistors-have-outperformed-silicon/" target="_blank">transistors</a> to <a href="https://futurism.com/carbon-nanotube-honeycomb-allows-better-gene-editing/" target="_blank">gene editing tools</a>.</p>
<p>Carbon nanotubes are just a thousandth of the diameter of regular wires (or one-billionth of a meter). The only problem was that these are too soft, making them difficult to insert into the brain. &#8220;It’s like trying to stick a wet noodle into a bowl of Jello,” <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23331071-900-tiny-nanoelectrodes-record-brains-activity-without-damaging-it/" target="_blank">said Jacob Robinson</a> of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice University has been working on several <a href="http://news.rice.edu/?s=carbon+nanotubes" target="_blank">projects involving carbon nanotubes</a>.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Robinson&#8217;s team was able to figure out a way to make carbon nanotubes temporarily stiff. The key was a device with a tiny channel of flowing water that fills up and stiffens the wire. The nanotubes do not bend or crumble upon insertion in the brain because the surrounding tissue helps keep them intact.</p>
<figure style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img style="width: 100%" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/01/gettyimages-147215684-800x533.jpg" alt="Credits: Victor Habbick Visions/Getty" width="800" height="498" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Credits: <i>Victor Habbick Visions/Getty</i></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Better Monitoring and Treatment</h2>
<p>The researchers were able to use the device to successfully implant nanoelectrodes in mice. Speaking at an <a href="https://www.ieee.org/index.html">IEEE workshop</a> in San Diego last November, the team said there seemed to be no damage in the mice&#8217;s brains. Certainly, more tests will be necessary before the technique could be used in human clinical trials.</p>
<p>It is a promising tool, with great applications in the treatment of neurological diseases. Furthermore, these nanoelectrodes can allow neuroscientists to study brain activity over longer periods of time. This is just one example of how nanomaterials are revolutionizing medical research and treatment procedures.</p>
<p>This also isn&#8217;t the first time carbon nanotubes have been used in the brain. <a href="http://news.rice.edu/2015/03/25/carbon-nanotube-fibers-make-superior-links-to-brain-2/" target="_blank">Previous research</a>, also done in Rice University, has already established that carbon nanotubes make for superior links to the brain. It&#8217;s also been proven that these biocompatible nanofibers are the best candidates for safe electrodes that interact with the brain&#8217;s neural system.</p>
<p>Due to their robustness and flexibility, these carbon nanotube fibers are bound to do much more for medical research in the future.</p>


Researchers were able to make carbon nanotubes temporarily stiff by channeling flowing water into them.
This device was used to successfully implant nanoelectrodes in mice, which didn't seem to damage the mice's brains. 

There’s a New Window Into the Human Brain

This new safe tool can monitor brain activity and actual brain treatments.

<h2><b></b>Instant Function</h2>
<p>Electrodes implanted in the brain and spine have helped paralyzed monkeys walk. The neurologists behind the study reported that the implants restored function in the primates&#8217; legs almost instantaneously. The findings are detailed in <i><a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/nature20118.epdf?referrer_access_token=Hg4LBtLAUNgHW2DXrhgF-dRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PBjeYXQKvh179aWaH1YQqv77dRonwszIxGCpEzgPD-cEQ9cyELYVjMfwYNa6q7hOM_tOqjHGAmNbfzSjeE5aHI_4o2Asry1lveP8nKraLMHjEDCfFGk2QGn6WZQJVtllWkh5RKcP7PziLnRAIgv1OW00lQwLuB1f8vgI7tOmsyH48aOLhV7Y4Wtj4ES61vcFbckCm05Ip5bb2m4Ed9Mk21yeGlWRf-MXQa7WMtu8qmPFtaRrOVYQOOQlPv4RqDqGZ1swaJQwIzDWLLvvrRjG5f&amp;tracking_referrer=www.npr.org" target="_blank">Nature</a>. </i></p>
<p>The spinal cord of the subject monkey was partially cut, so the legs had no way of communicating with the brain. To mend the brain-spine interface, electrodes were placed on key parts of the monkey&#8217;s body. Implants were placed inside the monkey&#8217;s brain at the part that controls leg movement, together with a wireless transmitter sitting outside the skull. Electrodes were also placed along the spinal cord, below the injury.</p>
<p>A computer program decoded brain signals indicative of leg movement and transmitted the signals to the electrodes in the spine. Within just a few seconds, the monkey was moving its leg. In a few days, it was walking on a treadmill.</p>
<figure style="width: 480px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/11/monkey-1_custom-1044d04561706346437da540f108946ec2e9fd67-s700-c85.jpg" width="480" height="647" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Alain Herzog/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)</figcaption></figure>
<p>&#8220;The primate was able to walk immediately once the brain-spine interface was activated. No physiotherapy or training was necessary,&#8221; <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/paralyzed-monkeys-walk-again-after-brain-implant-n681721" target="_blank">said Erwan Bezard</a>, one of the authors of the study.</p>
<h2>Primate-to-Primate</h2>
<p>This study is a massive breakthrough—it&#8217;s the first time implants have helped a primate walk. There has been <a href="https://futurism.com/?s=spinal+cord+injuries+rats" target="_blank">much research</a> to develop tech for paralyzed patients, but most lab trials were done on rodents. &#8220;It seems the principles learned in rats are now translating into primates,&#8221;<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/09/501029887/monkeys-regain-control-of-paralyzed-legs-with-help-of-an-implant" target="_blank"> said Jen Collinger</a>, a University of Pittsburgh bioengineer.</p>
<p>The results were astoundingly positive, but the researchers say that it will take at least a decade to fine-tune the technology for use in humans. Still, our bodies are greatly similar to that of monkeys, and the researchers believe transition could be quick.</p>
<p>Exciting news about the study is that the components that the researchers used are legal for human use in Switzerland. The Swiss group of the study have started clinical trial with eight people with partial leg paralysis.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re all eager for further development in the study—an innovation that could greatly change the lives of <a href="https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/Public/Facts%202016.pdf" target="_blank">approximately 282,000 people in the U.S.</a> with spinal cord injuries.</p>


Using a system of electrodes, transmitters, receivers, scientists were able to restore leg function in a primate, completely bypassing damaged nerves.
While this remarkable feat may be decades away from human use, it is a promising development for the hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. with spinal cord injuries 

Paralyzed Monkeys Able to Walk Again With Brain Implant. Human Trials Are Next

Scientists are now preparing for human trials. 

<h2>Regaining Sensation</h2>
<p>A realistically functioning prosthetic limb is closer to reality than ever before. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a set of brain implants that allowed a paralyzed man to feel sensations through a robot arm, as reported in <i><a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/10/12/scitranslmed.aaf8083" target="_blank">Science Translational Medicine</a></i>.</p>
<p>The patient, 28-year-old Nathan Copeland, was paralyzed from his upper chest down following a serious car accident in 2004. Four brain implants, located in the brain&#8217;s sense and motor regions, were used in the experiment – each was about the half the size of a button.  Thanks to these, he reported sensing touch through his fingers and palm.</p>
<figure style="width: 595px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/10/124548_web.jpg" alt="Credit: UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences Media Relations OR UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences" width="595" height="380" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Credit: UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences Media Relations OR UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences</figcaption></figure>
<p>&#8220;I can feel just about every finger—it&#8217;s a really weird sensation,&#8221; says Copeland, a month after the implants were placed. &#8220;Sometimes it feels electrical and sometimes it&#8217;s pressure, but for the most part, I can tell most of the fingers with definite precision. It feels like my fingers are getting touched or pushed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Copeland described the sensations as &#8220;possibly natural.&#8221; However, he could not sense if a substance is hot or cold, the researchers reported. Sensation was also successful when the researchers extended connectors from Copeland&#8217;s head to a robot arm. Copeland could control the robot arm with his mind, and feel when its fingers were being touched.</p>
<h2>A Realistic Perception</h2>
<p>Previous studies allowed lab animals to experience the sense of touch from direct stimulation of the brain. However, this latest research marks a possible breakthrough in allowing humans to experience the sensation. Vineeta Singh,  neurologist from the University of California, describes the importance of inducing &#8220;realistic&#8221; touch in everyday movement.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about refining it for the individual to perceive the sensation as it is perceived normally, which is not feeling the mechanical sensation of stimulation but at a deeper level how touch is perceived,&#8221; <a href="http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20161013/brain-chips-help-paralyzed-man-regain-sense-of-touch-using-robotic-arm#1" target="_blank">said Singh</a>. &#8220;You would want them to be able to feel an object and tell you what the three-dimensional nature of an object would be,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Not just touch, not cold or hot, but mental perception of depth.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite this success, certain risks are associated with the procedure in the form of potential infection of the connections coming out of his scalp. &#8220;Clearly, getting rid of these connectors and making these devices fully wireless is an essential step,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>More human trials must occur before this procedure is made widely available. However, Singh predicts that such touch technology might be implemented in prosthetics in less than a decade.</p>


Researchers have developed a set of brain implants that allowed a paralyzed man to feel sensations through a robot arm.
Copeland could correctly identify 84 percent of the time which individual prosthetic finger was being touched while blindfolded.

A Paralyzed Man Just Regained the Sense of Touch, Thanks to a Brain Implant

The four brain implants were about half the size of a button each. 

<p>The <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/">Nanyang Technological University</a> in Singapore has developed a smart chip that can be used for neural implants in order to wirelessly transmit brain signals to the rest of the body with 95% accuracy. These neural implants, and the data that they register, are expected to help curtail symptoms of diseases like Parkinson&#8217;s, and they could also help paraplegic patients move their prosthetic limbs.</p>
<p>For operations, external devices can use the  the 5mm by 5mm chip to receive and analyze data before sending back important details, instead of sending the entire data stream all at once. This drastically decreases its power consumption, making the tech far more viable.</p>
<p>“It is about a hundred times more efficient than current processing chips on the market. It will lead to more compact medical wearable devices, such as portable ECG monitoring devices and neural implants, since we no longer need large batteries to power them,” says Assistant Professor Arindam Basu from NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.</p>
<h5>Problems with our existing brain implants</h5>
<p>Existing neural implants use wires connected to a device placed outside of the patient&#8217;s body. These wires are inconvenient and require an opening through the body, which is prone to infections.</p>
<p>The other big challenge the team faced was making sure that the brain signals are decoded as accurately as possible. Heavy power consumption is required to make this happen because of the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. This normally requires bigger batteries or more frequent charging.</p>
<p>But as previously mentioned, this was circumvented by altering what data is sent and when.</p>
<p>This innovation will be useful for other devices as well. Asst. Prof Basu is now in talks with Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited to adapt his smart chip to significantly reduce power consumption and the amount of data transmitted by battery-operated remote sensors, such as video cameras.</p>


A new chip designed for the brain is now wireless. Now that it is no longer connected using wires, will it compromise its accuracy?

/Brain Implants

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