Connecting Brains

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Brain Machine Interface (BMI) / Brain Computer Interface (BCI)

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Researchers say they’ve built a system that can translate brain signals directly into text — a promising step toward a “speech prosthesis” that could effectively allow you to think text directly into a computer. Machine translation of cortical activity to text with an encoder–decoder framework | J. Makin, D. Moses, and E. Chang - Nature Neuroscience ...Scientists Debut System To Translate Thoughts Directly Into Text | Victor Tangermann - The Byte

New Brain Computer interface technology | Steve Hoffman | TEDxCEIBS
Brain Computer interface technology opens up a world of possibilities. We are on the cusp of this technology that is so powerful and has the potential to so radically transform our lives and existence! After starting three venture-funded startups in Silicon Valley, Steven Hoffman, known as Captial Hoff, launched Founders Space with the mission to educate and accelerate entrepreneurs and intrapreneur. Founder Space has become one of the top startup accelerators in the world with over 50 partners in 22 countries. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Thomas Oxley on the revolutionary stentrode device
Dr Thomas Oxley is the brainchild behind the stentrode device. The stentrode can record brain signals from within a blood vessel. These thoughts are captured, decoded and passed wirelessly through the skin to enable control of an external device, such as a prosthetic limb.

Direct Neural Interface & DARPA - Dr Justin Sanchez
The future of mind-controlled machines might not be as far away as we think. As director of DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, Dr Justin Sanchez is part of a team that is looking at how to decode brain signals and use them to control robotic prosthetics. His research includes the Visualization and decoding of brain activity, the development of devices that could help patients with memory deficits, and advanced prosthetic arm systems that could restore feeling and movement after an injury. The former associate professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at the University of Miami has also looked at the potential of neurotechnology for treating paralysis, Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The Direct Human/Machine Interface and Hints of a General Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Phillip Alvelda, Wiseteachers.com, former DARPA PM Dr. Alvelda’s talk discusses the latest and future developments in Brain-Machine Interface technology, and how new discoveries and interdisciplinary work in neuroscience are driving new extensions to information theory and computing architectures. While most of the current work focuses on applications such as artificial limbs for the disabled, in the future this technology is likely to be much more widespread.

Brain-computer interfaces: two concurrent learning problems - Maureen Clerc
Conférence de Maureen Clerc lors du colloquium Data Science Colloquium of the ENS ► https://savoirs.ens.fr/expose.php?id=3298 Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) are systems which provide real-time interaction through brain activity, bypassing traditional interfaces such as keyboard or mouse. A target application of BCI is to restore mobility or autonomy to severely disabled patients. In BCI, new modes of perception and interaction come into play, which users must learn, just as infants learn to explore their sensorimotor system. Feedback is central in this learning. From the point of view of the system, features must be extracted from the brain activity, and translated into commands. Feature extraction and classification issues, are important components of a BCI. Adaptive learning strategies, because of the high variability of the brain signals. Moreoever, additional markers may also be extracted to modulate the system's behavior. It is for instance possible to monitor the brain's reaction to the BCI outcome. In this talk I will present some of the current machine learning methods which are used in BCI, and the adaptation of BCI to users' needs.

Rethinking the Brain Machine Interface | Polina Anikeeva | TEDxCambridge
The way humans interact with computers has evolved from punch cards, to the keyboard and mouse, to much more sophisticated user interfaces, but the kinds of connections imagined in movies like The Matrix, Avatar or Pacific Rim still seem like science fiction. Polina Anikeeva is working to turn fiction into fact, not to help with virtual reality technology, but to help amputees restore full functionality to prosthetic limbs - not just to control the muscles, but to be able to feel and touch again. To achieve this, you need the precision of a virtuoso pianist to connect neural tissue to the prosthetic limb. The key to this precision is finding the right materials. Dr. Polina Anikeeva is an assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and a principle investigator of the Bioelectronics group. Her research lies in the field of neuroprosthetics and brain-machine interfaces.

Brain-Computer Interfaces
We could one day control our devices with our thoughts.

Ray Kurzweil: Get ready for hybrid thinking
Two hundred million years ago, our mammal ancestors developed a new brain feature: the neocortex. This stamp-sized piece of tissue (wrapped around a brain the size of a walnut) is the key to what humanity has become. Now, futurist Ray Kurzweil suggests, we should get ready for the next big leap in brain power, as we tap into the computing power in the cloud.

fNIRS and Brain Computer Interfaces for Communication
An essential webinar for all BCI researchers: fNIRS enables the read out of voluntarily controlled brain states in real time and opens a communication channel with completely locked-in patients, otherwise isolated from the external world.

Deep Learning with Ensembles of Neocortical Microcircuits - Dr. Blake Richards
Dr. Blake Richards is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Associate Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Recorded May 2nd, 2018 at ICLR2018

The Intelligence Revolution: Coupling AI and the Human Brain | Ed Boyden
Edward Boyden is a Hertz Foundation Fellow and recipient of the prestigious Hertz Foundation Grant for graduate study in the applications of the physical, biological and engineering sciences. A professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, Edward Boyden explains how humanity is only at its infancy in merging with machines. His work is leading him towards the development of a "brain co-processor", a device that interacts intimately with the brain to upload and download information to and from it, augmenting human capabilities in memory storage, decision making, and cognition. The first step, however, is understanding the brain on a much deeper level. With the support of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, Ed Boyden pursued a PhD in neurosciences from Stanford University

Brain-Computer Interface - Mysteries of the Brain
Neuroengineer Rajesh Rao of the University of Washington is developing brain-computer interfaces, devices that can monitor and extract brain activity to enable a machine or computer to accomplish tasks, from playing video games to controlling a prosthetic arm. "Mysteries of the Brain" is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.

This Brain Implant Could Change Lives
It sounds like science fiction: a device that can reconnect a paralyzed person’s brain to his or her body. But that’s exactly what the experimental NeuroLife system does. Developed by Battelle and Ohio State University, NeuroLife uses a brain implant, an algorithm and an electrode sleeve to give paralysis patients back control of their limbs. For Ian Burkhart, NeuroLife’s first test subject, the implications could be life-changing.

Consumer Brain-Computer Interfaces: From Science Fiction to Reality
Current communication technologies often suffer from being impersonal and non-contextual. Using on-body sensors for implicit or explicit sensing to transfer information, sense context, cognitive states, attention or engagement, open the possibility to enhance technologies for improving mental well-being of a person, help a person with the tasks on-hand but also to connect people. In this talk we will explore the opportunities provided by the systems known as Brain-Computer Interfaces, which use physiological sensors to measure brain activity (like Electroencephalography - EEG), for building seamless, novel and embodied communication systems using several concrete examples among which: applications for direct control of robots, applications to derive users’ intents, applications for attention measurement and cognitive enhancement.

Brain Machine Interfaces: from basic science to neuroprostheses and neurological recovery
Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., is the Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience at Duke University, Professor of Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychology and Neuroscience, and founder of Duke's Center for Neuroengineering. He is Founder and Scientific Director of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal. Dr. Nicolelis is also founder of the Walk Again Project, an international consortium of scientists and engineers, dedicated to the development of an exoskeleton device to assist severely paralyzed patients in regaining full body mobility.

Bryan Johnson & Neural Interfaces | Siraj Raval Podcast #1
On the first episode of my educational podcast, I have a very special guest for you! Bryan Johnson is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist that sold his payments company, Braintree, to Paypal for $800 million. What makes him someone I admire is how he decided to use that amount of wealth to improve human life through Science and technology. He invested $100 million into Kernel, a neuroscience startup that he leads and another $100 million into OS Fund, a venture fund that invests in scientist entrepreneurs. He's also an avid reader, which made for an amazing conversation. We touch on Artificial Intelligence, Science, mathematical mindsets, books, psychedelics, and so much more in this discussion. Enjoy!

Why is Elon Musk Connecting Brains to the Internet?
Let's talk Brain Computer Interfaces. BCI's are the next step in human evolution, they are the inevitable upgrade we'll need after the age of smartphones. If done right, they can help us fulfill our wildest fantasies. We'll be able to learn anything, experience anything, and be anywhere in seconds. I'll discuss the philosophical, theoretical, and technical aspects behind the idea.

Brain Computer Interfaces
I've laid out the blueprint for a brain computer interface called "The Link". This is a device that uses DNA for processing and storage, temporal interference to alter brain states, and infrared spectroscopy to read brain states. Its powered using your body heat, noninvasive, and waterproof. This device is just a thought experiment, but real companies are working on this technology today. What does this kind of technology entail for privacy? Will there be an intelligence disparity? What role does AI play in all of this? What does it even mean to be human? I tackle these hard questions and give a technical overview of this device in this video. Enjoy!

Brain Machine Interface (BMI) via Generative AI


Language decoding from functional MRI
This video explains our paper 'Semantic reconstruction of continuous language from non-invasive brain recordings' by Jerry Tang, Amanda LeBel, Shailee Jain, and Alexander Huth. We found that it is possible to use functional MRI scans to predict the words that a user was hearing or imagining when the scans were collected. Checking that our brain decoder respects mental privacy, we find that a person's cooperation is required both to train and to apply the decoder. We hope that brain decoders can help restore communication to people who have lost the ability to speak due to injury or disease.

Scientists can now use AI to convert brain scans into words
Scientists have found a way to decode a stream of words in the brain using MRI scans and artificial intelligence but could also raise privacy concerns.

Neuralink

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Neuralink Corporation is an American neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk and others, developing implantable brain–machine interfaces.

Demo involved several live pigs, one of which had the data-transmitting, coin-sized implant in its brain. A screen showed the electrical brain activity of the pig, named Gertrude, as it was registered on the device. Musk called the device "a Fitbit in your skull." The wires contain electrodes that can theoretically read or write based on brain activity. The data is transmitted for analysis via radio waves.

WATCH: Elon Musk's Neuralink Presentation (full working demo)
Tune in for the latest advancements in Elon Musk's Neuralink technology Starts 48:48 into the video

Watch Elon Musk’s Neuralink presentation
Electric vehicles, rockets... and now brain-computer interfaces. Elon Musk's newest venture, Neuralink, aims to bridge the gap between humans and artificial intelligence by implanting tiny chips that can link up to the brain. At a press conference on July 16, Neuralink's ambitious plans were detailed for the first time, showcasing a future (a very distant future!) technology that could help people deal with brain or spinal cord injuries or controlling 3D digital avatars.

Elon Musk's Neuralink: Everything We Know
Elon Musk's company wants to install an implant in human brains by the year 2020. How does it work? What does it mean? Find out the basics here.

Neuralink: Upgrading The Human Brain and Neural Computation | What You Need To Know
Elon Musk has been working on a brain-machine interface called Neuralink. Brain-machine interfaces could be the promising step forward that humans need to help correct neurological disorders and to ultimately – complete symbiosis with A.I. Implementation of Neuralink would essentially be both a hardware and software update of our ‘biological’ computers. The hardware update comes in the form of a neural processor (Neuralink ASIC) and extremely thin polymer threads to collect data about neural activity. The software update will give us powerful machine learning algorithms and a much better information system.

Neuralink - Merging Brain and Machine
Elon Musk's Neuralink project brain machine interface (BMI) has been floating around as an idea for a while now, but recently we've been taken on a detailed inside glimpse of what the technology will entail.

Our Neuralink Future
Elon Musk's newer company "Neuralink" just demoed the brain device they've been working on the past 2 years during a live stream event. I've been waiting a long time to get a glimpse of the hardware, software, and intentions they have as they build this technology and the event was satisfying, thought provoking, and humbling. I'm going to review my impressions of the event, explain how the device works in technical detail, then make a few predictions of what it's going to be used for in the future. It's an exciting time to be alive, and although there are dangers involved, I have faith that we can learn from our mistakes and avoid having this tool be used for exploitation like social networks have been used for.

Brain to Brain Interface (BBI)

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Mind Melds and Brain Beams: The Dawn of Brain-to-Brain Communication
Music students download the technique of their favorite pianist or singer directly into their brains. Medical students download the skills of a seasoned surgeon or diagnostician. And each one of us routinely uploads our thoughts and memories to the digital cloud. While these scenarios still lie in the future, rudimentary versions of the necessary brain-to-brain technology exist today. But the ability to directly influence another person’s brain raises serious questions about human rights and individual freedoms. This program will present the latest technology and explore how the ethical implications of enhanced thinking go to the heart of consciousness itself.

Human brain to brain communication has arrived | Giulio Ruffini | TEDxBarcelona
For the first time, information has been sent from one brain to another without the need to use invasive technology, i.e. without any cirurgical inventions. In the experiment, one person thought of a word ("Hola") and the second person could receive and decipher the signals to understand the word. Both persons were thousands of miles apart. This technology can already now help people with brain pathologies and - who knows - might become in some far future our preferred way of communication. Dr. Giulio Ruffini obtained his BA in mathematics and physics at the UC of Berkeley, and his PhD in Theoretic Physics at UC David/LANL. In 2000, he co-founded Starlab with the dream of transforming theoric science in technology with a real impact. Ten years later, he founded Neuroelectrics, marketing innovative products of brain stimulation that today could change the world of interpersonal communication as we know it. The 7.700 km which separates Strasburg and Thiruvananthapuram (India) didn’t prevent Ruffini and his team from achieving a transmition of a counscious message, from one brain to another in each city for the first time.

Miguel Nicolelis: Brain-to-brain communication has arrived. How we did it <You may remember neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis — he built the brain-controlled exoskeleton that allowed a paralyzed man to kick the first ball of the 2014 World Cup. What’s he working on now? Building ways for two minds (rats and monkeys, for now) to send messages brain to brain. Watch to the end for an experiment that, as he says, will go to "the limit of your imagination."

Dr. Miguel Nicolelis Explains Brain to Brain Interface Study Published in Scientific Reports
February 28, 2013

Brain-to-Brain Communication is Coming!
The paper "BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-to-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration Between Brains" is available here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.08632

Reporter Explains Brain-to-Brain Gaming in 3 Steps | Reporter's Notebook | WIRED
WIRED writer Louise Matsakis explains how she goes about covering a research paper on multi-person brain-to-brain interfaces. A brain interface is a way for people to communicate with each other only using their minds. Louise goes through all the steps she takes when prepping an article for WIRED.com, which includes: reading the research paper, checking the landscape, and contacting the researchers.

PEDOT

Connecting electronics to human tissue has been a major challenge due to traditional materials like gold, silicon and steel causing scarring when implanted....The polymer, known as a Pedot, has exactly the properties needed to interface electronic hardware with human tissue without causing scarring while also dramatically improving the performance of medical implants. ...The latest research used a Pedot film with an antibody that stimulates blood vessel growth after injury and could be used to detect early stages of tumour growth in the body. Pedot polymers could also be used to help sense or treat brain or nervous system disorders, while versions could theoretically attach peptides, antibodies and DNA. "Name your favorite biomolecule, and you can in principle make a Pedot film that has whatever biofunctional group you might be interested in," Dr. David Martin said. The researchers made a polymer with dopamine, which plays a role in addictive behaviors. Several companies and research institutions are already working on technology to connect brains to computers, with Elon Musk's Neuralink perhaps the closest to achieving a commercial product. The startup plans to reveal more details about its brain chips later this month, which could one day provide "full-bandwidth data streaming" to the brain through a USB-C cable.Groundbreaking New Material 'Could Allow Artificial Intelligence To Merge With The Human Brain' | Anthony Cuthbertson - Independent ...Technology could enable new health diagnostics and achieve Elon Musk's goal of integrating with artificial intelligence

poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a polymer mixture of two ionomers. One component in this mixture is made up of sodium polystyrene sulfonate which is a sulfonated polystyrene. Part of the sulfonyl groups are deprotonated and carry a negative charge. The other component poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is a conjugated polymer and carries positive charges and is based on polythiophene. Together the charged macromolecules form a macromolecular salt. Wikipedia

330px-Polythiophenes_Pedotpss.png Kohlenstoffnanoroehre_Animation.gif



Mapping the Brain

Mapping the brain is an ambitious scientific endeavor that seeks to understand the structure and function of this complex organ. Researchers are employing a variety of techniques to achieve this goal, including:

  • Functional and structural neuroimaging: These techniques create detailed images of the brain, allowing scientists to observe how different brain regions are activated during various tasks and to identify structural abnormalities.
  • Connectomics: This field focuses on mapping the connections between neurons, with the goal of creating a comprehensive "wiring diagram" of the brain.
  • Cell atlas projects: These initiatives aim to identify and characterize all the different cell types in the brain, creating a detailed census of the brain's cellular makeup.

Here are some of the ongoing efforts in brain mapping:

  • The BRAIN Initiative: Launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2013, the BRAIN Initiative is a large-scale project that supports a wide range of brain mapping research efforts. One key component is the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN Initiative®) [National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)] which has played a role in funding projects like the BICCN.
  • The Cell Census Network (BICCN): Established in 2017, the BICCN is a global collaboration of scientists working to create a comprehensive atlas of brain cell types in mice, monkeys, and humans. Their recent achievement of detailed cell maps of the human and nonhuman primate brain is a significant milestone [National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)].
  • Allen Brain Atlas: A 3D, web-based map of gene expression in the mouse brain, which details over 21,000 genes at the cellular level. Since humans share over 90% of their genes with mice, this atlas can help scientists understand human diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy.
  • Brain Energy Atlas Project: A collaboration between Yale University and Fudan University to create a 3D energy map of the human brain. This map is based on neuropil density and is intended to help scientists understand the microscopic anatomy of the brain.
  • BigBrain: A human brain atlas based on MRI images of over 7,000 brain slices.

Human Brain Atlas: Links MRI-based reference spaces to the microscopic BigBrain model. The Human Brain Project (HBP) has developed a 3D interactive viewer to explore brain atlases.

  • BrainSpan: Atlas of the Developing Human Brain: A project supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Google has been actively involved in brain mapping research for over a decade, contributing through various projects and collaborations. Here's a breakdown of their key areas of focus:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analysis: Google's strength lies in its expertise in AI and computational power. This has been instrumental in:

  • Automating data processing: Large-scale brain mapping projects generate massive datasets. Google's AI tools assist in automating tasks like segmentation (identifying individual neurons) and reconstruction (creating 3D models), significantly speeding up the process.
  • Extracting insights: AI algorithms can analyze complex brain data to identify patterns and connections that might be missed by human researchers. This helps us understand how different brain regions interact and function.

2. Collaborations: Google partners with other research institutions to leverage their expertise and datasets. Examples include:

  • Mapping the Mouse Brain: Google collaborated with several institutions on a project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a connectome (map of connections) of the mouse hippocampus, a region crucial for memory and navigation [blog.research.google]. This is a stepping stone towards mapping the entire mouse brain.
  • 3D Human Brain Mapping: Google AI partnered with Harvard Medical School to create a detailed 3D map of a tiny human brain tissue sample. This collaboration used AI to analyze vast amounts of electron microscope data, revealing intricate structures like "axon whorls" - previously unknown formations [blog.google].

3. Focus on Resolution: Google's projects aim to achieve high-resolution brain maps, capturing details down to the level of individual synapses (connection points between neurons). This fine-grained approach provides a deeper understanding of brain circuitry.

4. Long-term Vision: While current efforts focus on small brain regions, Google's ultimate goal might be to contribute to a comprehensive map of the entire human brain. This would be a revolutionary advancement in our understanding of this complex organ.

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