Neuralink.com
New Developments in Neural-Electronic Interface

A neuralink is an example of an interface technology that enables the transmission of information from a biological nerve cell (electrochemical impulse) to a computer circuit (electronic impulse) or vice versa. A brain-computer interface could work both ways with respect to vision. In one direction, photosensor arrays could create signals that are translated into impulses understood by the optic nerve (or higher brain center) to restore lost sight. In the different direction, electrical impulses recorded from the visual cortex will likely be translated to reconstruct what a person is observing. As an example of biological-to-mechanical integration, neural signals from the brain might be used to control remote bionic limbs. As an example of mechanical-to-biological integration, photoelectric signals from an artificial eye might be transformed and transmitted to neurons to create sight vision. Neuroprosthetics is the intersection of neuroscience and prosthetics. Early experiments in this subject have shown that microprocessors attached to severed nerves can enable humans, with practice, to control motion of a fabricated limb. The long-term goal is to construct prosthetics that both adjust directly to neural commands and are natural in appearance. The human nervous system is made of billions of nerve cells (called neurons) and support tissue (called glial cells). Together, they form an extensive network for transmitting signals from the body to the brain, processing those signals, and transmitting signals back from the brain to the body. For some types of signals, the processing is minimal. For example, involuntary motor functions such as heart rate and breathing are controlled by nuclei in the brain stem without much higher-order processing. Other signals need extensive processing, engaging the higher-order functions of the cerebral cortex. Click on images for info about biotechnology/neurotechnology T-shirts: Questions and suggestions concerning the site Neuralink.com may be sent to: Neuralink.com © 2006 by Neuralink.com