Lara Lewington, Liv McMahon & Tom Gerken<\/span><\/p>\nBBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n
Having a chip in your brain that can translate your thoughts into computer commands may sound like science fiction – but it is a reality for Noland Arbaugh. <\/p>\n
In January 2024 – eight years after he was paralysed – the 30-year-old became the first person to get such a device from the US neurotechnology firm, Neuralink.<\/p>\n
It was not the first such chip – a handful of other companies have also developed and implanted them – but Noland’s inevitably attracts more attention because of Neuralink’s founder: Elon Musk.<\/p>\n
But Noland says the important thing is neither him nor Musk – but the science.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC he knew the risks of what he was doing – but “good or bad, whatever may be, I would be helping”.<\/p>\n
“If everything worked out, then I could help being a participant of Neuralink,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If something terrible happened, I knew they would learn from it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
‘No control, no privacy’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n
Noland, who is from Arizona, was paralysed below the shoulders in a diving accident in 2016.<\/p>\n
His injuries were so severe he feared he might not be able to study, work or even play games again.<\/p>\n
“You just have no control, no privacy, and it’s hard,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You have to learn that you have to rely on other people for everything.”<\/p>\n
The Neuralink chip looks to restore a fraction of his previous independence, by allowing him to control a computer with his mind.<\/p>\n
It is what is known as a brain computer interface (BCI) – which works by detecting the tiny electrical impulses generated when humans think about moving, and translating these into digital command, such as moving a cursor on a screen.<\/p>\n
It is a complex subject that scientists have been working on for several decades. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Inevitably, Elon Musk’s involvement in the field has catapulted the tech – and Noland Arbaugh – into the headlines.<\/p>\n
It’s helped Neuralink attract lots of investment – as well as scrutiny over the safety and significance of what is an extremely invasive procedure.<\/p>\n
When Noland’s implant was announced, experts hailed it as a “significant milestone”, while also cautioning that it would take time to really assess – especially given Musk’s adeptness at “generating publicity for his company.”<\/p>\n
Musk was cagey in public at the time, simply writing in a social media post: “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection.”<\/p>\n
In reality, Noland said, the billionaire – who he spoke to before and after his surgery – was far more optimistic.<\/p>\n
“I think he was just as excited as I was to get started,” he said.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he stresses that Neuralink is about more than its owner, and claims he does not consider it “an Elon Musk device”.<\/p>\n
Whether the rest of the world sees it that way – especially given his increasingly controversial role in the US government – remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
But there is no questioning the impact the device has had on Noland’s life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
‘This shouldn’t be possible’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n\n
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When Noland awoke from the surgery which installed the device, he said he was initially able to control a cursor on a screen by thinking about wiggling his fingers. <\/p>\n
“Honestly I didn’t know what to expect – it sounds so sci-fi,” he said.<\/p>\n
But after seeing his neurons spike on a screen – all the while surrounded by excited Neuralink employees – he said “it all sort of sunk in” that he could control his computer with just his thoughts.<\/p>\n
And – even better – over time his ability to use the implant has grown to the point he can now play chess and video games.<\/p>\n
“I grew up playing games,” he said – adding it was something he “had to let go of” when he became disabled.<\/p>\n
“Now I’m beating my friends at games, which really shouldn’t be possible but it is.” <\/p>\n
Noland is a powerful demonstration of the tech’s potential to change lives – but there may be drawbacks too.<\/p>\n
“One of the main problems is privacy,” said Anil Seth, Professor of Neuroscience, University of Sussex.<\/p>\n
“So if we are exporting our brain activity […] then we are kind of allowing access to not just what we do but potentially what we think, what we believe and what we feel,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n
“Once you’ve got access to stuff inside your head, there really is no other barrier to personal privacy left.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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But these aren’t concerns for Noland – instead he wants to see the chips go further in terms of what they can do.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC he hoped the device could eventually allow him to control his wheelchair, or even a futuristic humanoid robot.<\/p>\n
Even with the tech in its current, more limited state, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing though.<\/p>\n
At one point, an issue with the device caused him to lose control of his computer altogether, when it partially disconnected from his brain.<\/p>\n
“That was really upsetting to say the least,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t know if I would be able to use Neuralink ever again.”<\/p>\n
The connection was repaired – and subsequently improved – when engineers adjusted the software, but it highlighted a concern frequently voiced by experts over the technology’s limitations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n