illuminating science

A while back I was talking about Matthew Nagle, the first person to trial the new “BrainGate” technology, that allows direct interface of the brain with a computer through electrodes that are actually implanted into the surface of the brain. Well Wired has an update on his progress, and so far everything seems to be going well. Just by thinking about it,he can play Pong (and well, if you believe the reporter!), he can move a cursor around the screen, and can draw circles with his cursor, something which I have enough trouble doing with a pencil…

The technology aside, there are some really interesting tidbits in the story. One is how Nagle controls the cursor:

“For a while I was thinking about moving the mouse with my hand,” Nagle replied. “Now, I just imagine moving the cursor from place to place.” In other words, Nagle’s brain has assimilated the system. The cursor is as much a part of his self as his arms and legs were.

When they were first experimenting with monkeys, the monkeys eventually learned they didn’t need to physically move a joystick to move the cursor (and receive their juice reward) - they just had to think about it (or at least, produce the same brain patterns.) Here, Nagle has demonstrated that humans are able to do the same thing - a bit like incorporating extra senses through the tongue or relearning how to control a hand that has been reattached but with the nerves in the wrong place. As the article not-so-eloquently puts it, “Nobody really knows how all that electricity and meat make a mind.” A little crude, but it really does highlight what an amazing thing our brain is and how little we understand it. I wonder if there’s any connection between this sort of thing, and riding a bike or juggling becoming “instinctive”? I don’t have to think about juggling any more (though I still do to ride a bike!) when I do it - I don’t have to think about moving my hands here or there, or even these days about keeping the ball in the air. My brain just knows what signals it’s got to send to get my ultimate aim of juggling to work. I’d love to know more about neuroscience!

Unfortunately, this project isn’t purely altruistic in nature. The article says that the US Department of Defense has contributed “more than $25 million in grants from the US Department of Defense, which frankly envisions a future of soldier-controlled killer robots.” To quote the director of Darpa, “Imagine a warrior with the intellect of a human and the immortality of a machine.”

Yes. Let’s imagine.

I realise that military funding is an important source for companies like this, and that research with wide ranging, highly beneficial applications can come from it, but an army of supersoldiers is not really what I’d want to be working towards. Being practical, if armies were made entirely of robots it might limit human casualties, but think about the expense! And ultimately to win a war you’re still going to be bombing buildings, and civilians are going to be the ones to pay.

On a slightly more interesting, albeit slightly disturbing note,

Some scientists have further suggested that implants designed to restore cognitive abilities to Alzheimer’s and stroke victims could enhance the brainpower of healthy people. There’s talk of using BCIs to stifle antisocial tendencies and “program” acceptable behavior.

I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with the idea of “reprogramming” someone using a computer. Psychiatry is a completely different story, and while medicines are perhaps closer in nature, I don’t think that’s the same thing as programming them with a chip. This idea has been bandied around at least since Michael Crichton’s “The Terminal Man” from the 1970’s (though the book itself isn’t that great!)

So, again, I’m forced to ask myself, if I were paralysed, would I be willing to risk my brain to be able to control a computer like that? One the one hand, my brain would be (and is!) my most valuable asset (with full modesty, of course - I’m pretty sure most people would say the same!) On the other, to be hooked up on a ventilator 24/7 and forced to work painstakingly slowly my moving my chin or tongue…it would be very tempting. As for enhancing my current abilities, I think I’ll stick to simpler mental tricks.