Look! No hands!

October 16, 2008 4:21 PM

Would it be feasible to have a small electrode permanently implanted in my brain?

I just read this article over at mofi about a science experiment:

"They first implanted a number of electrodes in the motor cortex of two macaque monkeys. Each electrode picked up signals from a single neuron, and those signals routed through an external circuit to a computer. The neuronal signals controlled a cursor on a screen, and the monkeys were trained to move the cursor using only their brain activity."

I want to be able to plug a handful of individual neurons into a computer and see what I can train myself to do with them. Now, I imagine I'd have to be crazy rich to undergo voluntary brain surgery, and there's probably also medical/psychological complications to worry about. But hey, if I had the cash and the cojones could it be done?

posted by waxboy to science & nature (13 comments total)

Medically, it could be done, similar to how it's been done on monkeys. There are even people who have related expertise on humans - deep brain stimulators to treat Parkinson's, for instance. So ... yes.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 4:34 PM on October 16, 2008

There was a metafilter post a week or so back about a guy who had no muscle control at all, but was learning to speak via an electrode implanted in his brain that allowed him to control a cursor and select vowel sounds from a screen. I've had no luck finding it, but perhaps someone else will?

As for whether you could do it yourself, it sounds like it's very rudimentary technology at this stage, and you wouldn't really have the control you might want.
posted by twirlypen at 4:37 PM on October 16, 2008

Hypothetically it seems possible. Deep brain stimulation is a technique used for patients with parkinson's disease or minimally conscious states where a small "brain pacemaker" is implanted that delivers small charges to the brain. So yes, people have voluntarily had electrodes installed into their brains. (Voluntarily because as I understand it the technique is still experimental and patients have the option to participate in a study where the technique is administered.) Now getting someone to install something in your brain so you don't need to lift a hand is another story.

You may be interested in EEG technology. Electroencephalographs use electodes on the scalp to measure electric current in the brain. Some systems are so sophisticated that teams have been able to map what participants are looking at based on the the EEG reading. Perhaps you can build an EEG based Rube Goldberg device to scan your brain waves, and deliver your coffee just the way you like it. Instead of spending money on surgery you'd be saving at least $1.25 a day!
posted by abirae at 4:41 PM on October 16, 2008

You can start with the Emotiv EPOC as training wheels. It involves no cranial drilling and is supposedly on sale this Xmas.

hackers of the future: I'm in ur brain makin you want me.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 4:44 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Shucks, Derive! I suppose EPOC's ability to controll PC games based on a user's conscious, unconscious and emotional states is almost as cool as making coffee with skim milk, no sugar. ALMOST!
posted by abirae at 4:50 PM on October 16, 2008

EEG is one thing, but I'm only interested in single neuron electrodes. I don't want to train regions of my brain to change frequency, rather I'd like to train individual neurons to fire and take advantage of good ol' muscle memory techniques.

What sort of systems are used for these brain-computer interfaces? How rudimentary is the state of the art? Know of any academic publications on the topic?
posted by waxboy at 4:51 PM on October 16, 2008

single neurons are very small (although the axons can be quite long) and a single neuron is more analagous to a single muscle cell rather than a whole muscle but that said: neural circuitry is cool. I'm at a limited workstation so it's hard to post links but I'd suggest searching www.pubmed.org for the acadmic/medical side of stuff that's been stuck in brains, and/or articles on the potentiation of individual neurons.

As for what you are looking for, I think Biofeedback has been used to establish brain "muscle memory" so you might try wikipedia or pubmed for info on that. As I understand it biofeedback usually uses EEG because it is less invasive than jabbing stuff in brains, but by all means see what is out there.
posted by abirae at 5:00 PM on October 16, 2008

why can't he just go volunteer to take the place of a research monkey?
posted by low affect at 5:19 PM on October 16, 2008

I think one of the problems with intracellular recording is that it tends to be a rather traumatic experience for the cell that you pierce with the electrode. I know people doing single-unit in vivo experiments who don't really count on being able to record from the same cell beyond a single multi-hour session. I also know folks doing multi-unit array recordings in vivo who are hoping for several months to a year out of their implant but don't plan for much longer than that.

We don't seem to have the technology yet for chronic neural implants. Folks are working on it, though.
posted by tss at 5:23 PM on October 16, 2008

(OH BOY! MY FAVORITE TOPIC!)

Neural implants almost the same as those in the monkey experiments have been done in humans.

The problem isn't the implant technique, the decode, the training, or any of that. It's that they haven't commercialized it, you (probably) aren't paralyzed, and they don't have research funding to do just anybody (especially since their grants probably are for research on and for the disabled).

You can buy similar or identical electrodes from at least one commercial dealer. And, I bet that an opensource project could probably put together decode for you after the study of a number of rats and your own neural signals. The problem actually doesn't seem so hard as to be intractable by amateurs--I've looked at some of the math.

But, and it's a huge fucking but, where are you going to find a skilled neurosurgeon and an ultra-modern hospital who's willing to put this homebrew gadget in your brain? Transdermal implants are a sonofabitch in any situation due to risk of infection, dropping one into your brain is even more suspect (although there're some ways to mitigate the risk, apparently). Who's going to take that malpractice risk on? You might go to Thailand or the like and find an underground doctor... but, probably not the neurosurgeon from the future that you need.

At least, that's why I'm not controlling the mouse with my mind right now.
posted by Netzapper at 5:39 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

This has a lot to do with sensory simulation, which is a method some are trying to help give sight to the blind.

I cant find the article I read a few years ago but maintaining the port is a real health risk and there are limitations on how deep they can get anything in there as any movement or jerking would rip the inside of the brain and kill the user. I dont think this will be outpatient stuff anytime soon.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:19 PM on October 16, 2008

Netzapper, who needs an ultra-modern hospital?
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:31 AM on October 17, 2008

Get a stereotaxic atlas, a drill, and a willing friend. You could do this at home. It would be enormously stupid, but it could be done.

I've put a cannula (significantly larger than the sort of electrode you're talking about) into a rat brain, and while the ethical concerns would probably prevent me from doing it to a human, I'm confident that I physically could. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered having it done to myself, but that was before I learned more about TMS and emerging imaging/interface technologies.

Wires are old school. Yeah, you could do it, but there are less invasive ways to mess with your own brain these days.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 8:37 AM on October 17, 2008