Elon Musk plans to begin Neuralink human experiments later this year.
Neuralink ‘s mission is to use groundbreaking brain-machine interfaces and control devices using the mind alone to vastly heal fatal neurological diseases. If the FDA approves human experiments this year, the company, led by Elon Musk, could take a big step in that direction. Neuralink had previously conducted experiments on primates and pigs. The results of these experiments were found very successful and the desired performance was achieved.
Elon Musk introduced the Neuralink project in 2017, which aims to communicate directly between the human brain and machines. While the technology under development certainly carries many interesting applications, the company has not yet conducted experiments on humans. That could change, however, with Musk’s recent announcement that Neuralink is waiting for FDA approval to begin human trials this year. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, gave the good news that the trials could begin this year as a result of the FDA approval, after a Twitter user wanted to participate in the Neuralink trials because of a stroke.
Neuralink is working super hard to ensure implant safety & is in close communication with the FDA. If things go well, we might be able to do initial human trials later this year.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2021
Removing the barriers of people with a certain disability is one of the biggest goals of the Neuralink project. Also, new technology could potentially be cured or significantly less fatal with other neurological diseases such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Elon Musk talked about the progress of Neuralink in a Talk Show he recently attended at Clubhouse. “We have a little monkey with a wireless implant in his skull who can play video games using his mind,” says Musk. He also increased the expectation considerably.
Finally, let’s point out that there is no information yet on when Neuralink, which is a very important technology with what it promises, will be implemented.