Neuralink's first patient now moves a mouse with his brain

As we reported in late January, the first human patient was successfully implanted with a brain chip from Elon Musk's neurotechnology startup Neuralink. Elon Musk updated the patient's status during yesterday night's X (Twitter) Spaces lecture, as discovered by entrepreneur and Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt.

According to Musk, the patient has fully recovered and can now operate the computer cursor only by thinking.

"Progress is good, and the patient appears to have fully recovered, with no adverse effects that we are aware of". According to Reuters, Musk stated that the patient can move a mouse across the screen by thinking.

In May of last year, the neurotechnology business got FDA permission for its first human clinical research.

Neuralink's N1 chip is implanted in the patient's skull and connects to the brain via microscopic strands thinner than human hair. The threads are equipped with 1,024 electrodes that can take up signals and trigger millions of brain neurons at once. The signals are sent wirelessly for processing and interpretation.

The technology is known as a brain-computer interface (BCI). In theory, such interfaces can provide enormous benefits to people whose lives have been drastically disrupted by illnesses or accidents. We are not only talking about paralyzed patients walking again, but also about recovering the ability to see and even improving humans' overall capacities, such as managing technological gadgets by thinking.

Neuralink's product line includes more than only N1. The company has also created its own surgical robot, R1, for the precise, quick, and safe installation of brain implants. While Neuralink provides hope for many patients, assuming the firm is successful in its efforts to test and develop the technology toward a market solution, Musk has much larger objectives, as usual. His ultimate goal is to bring humanity on par with artificial intelligence.