Turning brain signals into useful information
Once data have been extracted from the brain, how can they be employed to best effect?
FOR those who reckon that brain-computer interfaces will never catch on, there is a simple answer: they already have. Well over 300,000 people worldwide have had cochlear implants fitted in their ears. Strictly speaking, this hearing device does not interact directly with neural tissue, but the effect is not dissimilar. A processor captures sound, which is converted into electrical signals and sent to an electrode in the inner ear, stimulating the cochlear nerve so that sound is heard in the brain. Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist who helped develop them, explains that the implants provide only a crude representation of speech, “like playing Chopin with your fist”. But given a little time, the brain works out the signals.
This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline “Translation required”
From the January 6th 2018 edition
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