Chipping In: Brain chip for memory repair closes in on live tests

Catching up on my Scientific American subscription had me reading this article from Feb. '07 this morning. It talks about BCI's (Brain-Computer Interfaces). A group is studying them in rats. It does say that we have modeled some portions of the brain so accurately, that the silicon replicas give 95% of the same outputs, given a set a of inputs, as the actual brain does (similar things have been stated in Kurzweil's last book). Right now there are a number of real BCIs being commercialized (www.cyberkineticsinc.com) and many more being studied. This is the closest to a two-way BCI that I've heard of though. Most either have the brain controlling something (like a robotic arm to grab or manipulate something, or a computer cursor), or exterior influences manipulating the brain (such as cochlear implants). But these guys are working on an implanted BCI that would augment your memory. Very Fascinating. The full article is only available online, but here is the teaser they make available:

January 14, 2007

NEUROTECH
Chipping In
Brain chip for memory repair closes in on live tests
By Anna Griffith

Supplementing the human brain with computer power has been a staple of science fiction. But in fact, researchers have taken several steps in melding minds with machines, and this spring a team from the University of Southern California may replace damaged brain tissue in rats with a neural prosthesis.

For the past few years, researchers have demonstrated the ability to translate another creature's thoughts into action. In 2000 neurologist Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University wired a monkey with electrodes so that its thoughts could control a robotic arm. Brain-machine interfaces developed by Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tübingen in Germany, already help some paralyzed patients move a computer cursor with their brain waves to select letters for writing a message....continued at Scientific American Digital

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=16D0349A-E7F2-99DF-3AE455BC30B67DB3&sc=I100322