{"id":4959,"date":"2024-05-23T13:18:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T17:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4959"},"modified":"2024-05-23T13:18:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T17:18:03","slug":"first-patient-to-receive-neuralink-describes-his-life-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/05\/first-patient-to-receive-neuralink-describes-his-life-now.html","title":{"rendered":"First Patient to Receive Neuralink Describes His Life Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Neuralink | Inset: Good Morning America \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noland Arbaugh\u2019s life was drastically changed when he became quadriplegic after diving in shallow water. Last year, he was given the opportunity to receive the first-ever Neuralink, a tiny chip implanted in Arbaugh\u2019s skull that enables him to control a computer simply with his thoughts. The technology is the first of its kind to be tested on people, and is from the mind of Tesla\u2019s Elon Musk. It could potentially be a game changer for those like Arbaugh who are living with severe physical impairments. \u201cI can control a computer just like anyone else can, which is not something I was able to do beforehand,\u201d said Arbaugh, speaking to \u201cGood Morning America\u2019s<\/a>\u201d Will Reeve. The implant enabled Arbaugh to browse the internet and play video games.<\/p>\n

Neuralink was founded in 2016 and went through a series of animal trials before being approved for human trials. One of the biggest concerns of the implant is the retraction of the tiny wires attached to the device, something that can limit the device\u2019s responsiveness to Arbaugh\u2019s brain. The wires are thinner than human hair and movement in the brain can make it difficult for designers to adjust for changes. In a previous study on pigs, Neuralink\u2019s designers found that a subset developed granulomas in the brain, an inflammatory response due to infection or a foreign object. Neuralink eventually was unable to conclude the exact cause of the granulomas but ruled out the device and its threads as the culprit.<\/p>\n

Just a few weeks after his Neuralink was implanted, Arbaugh experienced similar retraction, causing performance issues with the device. Neuralink engineers worried they might have to remove the device, something that caused Arbaugh to get emotional. \u201cIt was very, very hard to give up all of the amazing things that I was able to do. I think I had cried, basically, afterward,\u201d he said. However, Neuralink was able to make modifications to the device, including increasing its algorithm\u2019s sensitivity to keep the device in place. \u201cWe rolled up our sleeves and found various different ways for Nolan to be able to recover his performance,. Ever since then, he’s been able to actually do better than what he’s been able to do before this,\u201d said Neuralink co-founder DJ Seo.<\/p>\n

For his part, Arbaugh is thankful to be the first. \u201cI knew that if I did this then it would take a lot of headache and heartache away from the people down the road,\u201d he said. Musk announced on X<\/a> that the company is currently seeking a second participant for the implant. He included a video of Arbaugh discussing his experiences with the chip. According to Bloomberg, the company intends to operate on 11 people this year and be in 22,000 by the year 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noland Arbaugh\u2019s life was drastically changed when he became quadriplegic after diving in shallow water. Last year, he was given the opportunity to receive the first-ever Neuralink, a tiny chip implanted in Arbaugh\u2019s skull that enables him to control a computer simply with his thoughts. The technology is the first of its kind to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":4965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Patient to Receive Neuralink Describes His Life Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The technology is the first of its kind to be tested on people, and is from the mind of Tesla\u2019s Elon Musk.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/05\/first-patient-to-receive-neuralink-describes-his-life-now.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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