Brain-reading devices are helping paralyzed people control prosthetics that restore a sense of touch.

Brain implants are restoring movement and communication in early human trials

Several companies developing brain-computer interfaces have begun testing on humans with promising results. These implants have helped reanimate paralyzed limbs and enable communication, though ethical concerns remain about data privacy.

Mind-controlled bionic arms use nerve implants to restore sensation and movement

Unlike traditional prosthetics that rely on surface electrodes or mechanical parts, this system uses implanted titanium and nerve-connected electrodes to enable a seamless brain-to-arm connection. Patients train in virtual reality with their implanted signals before using the physical prosthesis.

Neuralink brain implants have enabled a paralyzed person to play video games

As one of twelve test subjects in Neuralink's PRIME study, Rob Greiner's implant translates his brain's activity into digital commands for the 'Battlefield 6' game. He can now also design 3D models and 3D-print objects using his thoughts.

See this 1440 Originals video unraveling how brain-computer interfaces create a direct link between the brain and external devices.

Using brain implants to restore vision

Several companies are attempting to create brain-computer interfaces that skip over retinas and optic nerves to allow visual input to go straight to the brain, potentially restoring some sight to the blind. Clinical trial findings suggest restored sight is sparse and manifests differently than a sighted person might expect, appearing as specks of "light" clusters called phosphenes to help differentiate one's surroundings.

Interface device implanted into ALS patients restored some of their abilities

Most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, require assistance with daily life due to loss of motor control. The electrode-coated, stent-like device used motor mapping data and machine learning to translate brain activity into actions.

The first neural devices were cochlear implants, designed to treat hearing loss

Neural interfaces connect with our nervous system to restore or enhance abilities, such as hearing or movement. These neuroprostheses have enabled the restoration of mobility, communication, and activities of daily living that might otherwise require a caregiver.

An essay exploring how living day-to-day with a brain implant helps restore a sense of identity

Companies like Neuralink are experimenting with volunteers who have lost control over their bodies. Many of the program's participants claim the most significant benefit from the tool is the ability to perform simple, mundane tasks, such as playing video games or shaking hands, rather than more obvious milestones like walking or eating. This essay explores what it's like, day to day, to use a brain implant.

Neural interfaces offer major medical potential but raise serious ethical concerns

Although brain-computer interfaces can help people recover lost functions and allow direct brain-to-computer communication in the future, surveys have shown little public support for using them to boost abilities like memory or focus in healthy people.

Research suggests the brain maintains connections to lost limbs

Decades-old research suggested brain reorganization after amputations, but brain scans show unchanged limb representations. Phantom limb pain may result from such unchanged brain maps, which may enhance prosthetic limb control in brain-computer interface technology.

Predictive brain implants raise ethical concerns about patient autonomy after surgery

These devices can accurately forecast neurological events like seizures and suggest or even automatically deliver responses. Their constant monitoring and prescriptive functions may blur the line between patient choice and device influence.

Elon Musk's Neuralink's N1 chip can wirelessly read brain signals from over 2,000 electrodes

The device is a battery-powered brain implant that transmits data via Bluetooth. Neuralink's near-term objectives for the device focus on unlocking new treatments for paralysis, neurological disorders, and some psychiatric conditions.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Using AI to restore speech 30 years after a stroke

Through a novel surgical procedure involving electrodes implanted in the brain, along with the help of artificial intelligence, a stroke patient is regaining her ability to speak. This technology converts her thoughts into speech through a digital avatar, allowing her to verbally express herself for the first time in decades.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Open brain surgery is not required for BCIs inserted via blood vessel injection

Synchron's brain-computer interface, the Synchron Switch, takes advantage of preexisting medical devices, such as stents and catheters. Cells grow over the device over a 90-day period, incorporating it into the vessel wall and minimizing clots.

An experimental bionic knee has been directly integrated into the user's muscle and bone—not an external socket—marking a significant prosthetic advancement.

Neural implants blur the line between personal intention and machine execution

A key ethical dilemma—the contemplation conundrum—explores whether implants might misinterpret mere imagination as intent to act. Neuroscientists have found no brain signal that clearly marks when someone decides to act, making intent hard to detect in neurotechnological systems.

Losing a brain-computer interface can trigger lasting psychological distress

A clinical trial participant with severe epilepsy described becoming “one” with her implant after it gave her unprecedented control over her seizures. When the device was removed due to the company shutting down, she experienced deep emotional trauma and a sense of personal loss.

Efforts to build touch-enabled machines highlight the complexity of human touch

The challenges that engineers are facing as they try to reproduce a human's ability to touch and also give robots the ability to interpret that kind of sensory flow are furthering our understanding of the myriad intricacies of human touch—and the challenges in emulating it.

Listen to how bionic limbs are reshaping what it means to live as an amputee in this award-winning 2022 podcast series covering the stories of two amputees who struggled with shortcomings in prosthetic technology.

Phantom limb pain may often match the pain or contortion of the injury that led to the limb loss.

Learn how a doctor successfully treated a patient's phantom limb pain with a mirror, tricking his brain into thinking his still-present arm was the missing paralyzed left one.

Brain implants can help colorblind people hear colors

Colorblind artist Neil Harbisson was born into a world of grey. In 2004, he had a chip installed connected to an external color frequency sensor. Once the sensor "reads" a color, it sends a signal to the chip and plays an associated sound both in and outside Harbisson's head.

Nonamputees can be tricked into thinking they have phantom limbs with rubber arm experiments.

A cochlear implant stimulates parts of the cochlea directly, with limited pitch and timbre capabilities

People with these devices have to learn or relearn how to train their brains to interpret nerve signals as sound. The range of the type of sounds that the brain can distinguish with a cochlear implant is limited and consequently it's difficult to understand a tonal language or distinguish individual speakers in a crowd.

Cochlear implants stimulate nerves inside the ear to provide the sensation of sound

In a surgical procedure, one part of the implant is placed under the skin behind the ear and electrodes are threaded into the cochlea in the inner ear. Another part of the implant sits behind the ear and picks up sound and then converts it into patterns of nerve stimulation.

In a first, eye prosthesis has restored sight to macular generation patients

In a clinical trial, 27 of 32 participants with advanced macular degeneration regained enough vision to read books, food labels, and subway signs about a year after receiving a prosthetic retina device. This is the first device to restore functional vision to patients with incurable vision loss, though in this case they can only see in black and white, with no shades in between.

Stem cell therapy has shown promise in treating spinal injuries in an early-stage clinical trial.

We can sense touch even through a tool

Research published in 2019 indicates that the same brain regions involved in sensing touch on the body also process it when humans use a tool to do the touching. Essentially, it's acting as a sensory extension of the body. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Deep brain stimulation helps manage movement in patients with neurological disorders

DBS is a surgical procedure that uses implanted electrodes to send electrical signals to targeted areas in the brain, interrupting abnormal neural activity. It may be implemented when medications lose effectiveness or cause disruptive side effects.

Medical professionals have experimented with using mixed reality headsets

Devices like the Apple Vision Pro have helped doctors develop surgical plans for hip and knee replacements using software that provides 3D models and other tools. Virtual screens displayed by mixed reality devices can provide information related to surgical progress, a patient's vitals, and more.

The world's first commercial biological computer combines neurons with silicon

Australian start-up Cortical Labs unveiled CL1, a hybrid chip designed to help scientists study brain function in real-time. The 800,000 lab-grown neurons on the chip are kept viable for six months via a built-in life support system.

Implanted neurotechnology can leave users vulnerable when manufacturers go under

Despite providing relief from neurological conditions, patients are left stranded when the companies that make these devices shut down. The lack of regulation means patients often face technical failure, insurance battles, or risky surgeries to maintain their quality of life.

Hear about life as an amputee and how mirror box therapy helped.

Palliative care physician BJ Miller describes his phantom limb pain and itching after losing both legs and half an arm in an accident. Mirror box therapy eventually helped him, alongside physical therapy. This podcast also features neuroscientist VS Ramachandran who explains how he developed mirror box therapy in the 1990s.

Researchers use the brain's ability to edit memories to explore memory deletion

Scientists have successfully implanted false memories in mice after studying how the editing process works in the brain. Beyond potentially deleting memories in those with PTSD, upcoming research may allow clinicians to forecast the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

Scientists are learning to guide your dreams using sound and touch.

Phantom limbs aren't just limited to limbs—there are phantom breasts, teeth, and more, and these sensations are often painful.

Brain wave-reading earbuds are being used by companies to study workplace performance

Limited safeguards prevent governments from accessing and companies from sharing brain data. Foreign governments may also be developing technology to spy on and potentially disrupt human thoughts.

Amputees must navigate the challenging medical and economic aspects of limb support and replacement, but advances in technology and research may reduce these costs.

Medical imaging allows 3D printers to create patient-matched devices

With imaging data on a person's anatomy, external prostheses and implants, such as cranial plates or hip joints, can be custom-printed to better match a patient's body. Fabrication of porous structures can promote bone growth, leading to longer-lasting implants.

Hacking the body for a future that didn't happen

Journalist Adi Robertson experimented with one of the most accessible biohacks: magnets. Having a tiny magnet in their right ring finger meant they could sense magnetic fields, attract small metal objects, and more. But magnets weaken over time, eroding this new sense. Such implants do more than offer a new way of interacting with the world, they also pose new complications, such as the inability to get an MRI.

Neural rhythms shape how we move, focus, remember, and interact with the world

Millions of neurons in the brain produce rhythmic electrical signals, or brain waves, that guide physical movement and help form and store memories. Researchers also use these rhythms to create brain-computer interfaces, letting people control devices using only their thoughts.

How medical robots could cure cancer

Medical robots are on the verge of being able to be injected into the body, where they will be responsible for semi-autonomous behavior, such as detecting cancer cells and distributing medication. This six-minute video dives into the science of these nanorobots, which are smaller than blood cells. Applications of these nanobots could range from disease discovery and condition monitoring to tissue repair and artificial blood delivery.

Pig brain cellular activity was restarted hours after death in study published in 2019

Yale University scientists restored basic cellular activity and circulatory function in pig brains about four hours after death with a synthetic cocktail of preservatives and nutrients. This work— which didn't restart electricity activity in the brain or consciousness—could help advance future human stroke and brain injury treatments.

Meta's Quest and other mixed reality devices can make learning new skills easier

PianoVision utilizes the passthrough visibility of a headset to illuminate which keys to play on a real piano or keyboard, providing an immersive, software-based learning alternative to human instruction. Similar apps also offer virtual model replacements for physical devices, such as a virtual piano, to practice with.

The dreaming brain, as understood by scientists

Technology has advanced to where the seemingly separate fields of psychology and neuroscience are asking the same questions about dreams, such as whether they're more closely related to perception or visualization. Some field-intersecting findings include research that shows people with impaired face perception don't dream of faces, those with brain legion-related cognition difficulties deal with similar issues in dreams, and children's dreams change in parallel to their cognitive development.

The Cybathlon is an international competition for assistive technology

The competition pits teams against each other in eight races targeting different innovations, such as arm prostheses, leg prostheses, and vision assistance. Participants in the Cybathlon use it to push the boundaries of technology, including brain implants and assistive software that incorporates AI.

New eye implant clinical trial recruiting in 2026

University of Southern California researchers have launched a phase 2b clinical trial of a stem cell implant designed to restore vision in people with advanced dry macular degeneration. Patients will be randomized to receive the stem cell implant or a simulated procedure and placebo implant. This type of larger, second-stage clinical trial is designed to confirm efficacy and dosing and to look for side effects. It's one of the stages that precedes the US Food & Drug Administration approval of a device.

When humans perceive touch, the information is sent to the thalamus and then to the primary somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that receives sensory input.