“Envisioning an Accessible Future with Brain Computer Interfaces”

Artist: Netri Pajankar, Department of Health Sciences, Neuroscience Graduate Program, McMaster University.

The technological epoch that is the 21st century has brought in such a sheer breadth of change across every human endeavor, that we are near the cusp of changing the nature of humanity itself. Brain Computer Interface technology is the natural conclusion to the evolution of the fundamental drivers of this change: computers. While today's computers require us to physically interact with them using our bodies, BCIs propose a paradigm shift: meld neurons and silicon to control the machines with our minds. The advent of this technology is a double-edged sword: it is a regulatory and ethical nightmare but it also holds within the key to unlocking a cornucopia of treatments and rehabilitative techniques hereto unimaginable, giving voice and agency to millions of those with deficits in physical & neurological function. This might read like science fiction, but this future is already upon us: Willett et al. published a case study in 2020 exhibiting how the ability to communicate in a paralysed patient could be restored with the help of a BCI that decodes rapid, dextrous motor behavior, using electrodes that were directly implanted into the brain tissue. Another well known BCI venture is Neuralink, which allows us a glimpse into a future with easily accessible, implantable BCIs co-located in the patient's organic tissue, that can observe and stimulate neural activity. It is only while BCIs are in their infancy that we have the opportunity to decide the manner in which they will manifest upon our species.