ELON Musk’s controversial brain chip laboratory Neuralink has revealed that its first patient had a problem after surgery.
Noland Arbaugh, 29, who is paralyzed from the neck down, received the implant in January – despite shocking reports of monkeys dropping dead in previous trials.
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Technology allows him to control things on a computer screen and play video games using his mind.
Neuralink shared an update on Arbaugh’s progress one hundred days after undergoing the groundbreaking procedure.
I’m beating my friends at games that, as a quadriplegic, I shouldn’t beat them at
Noland Arbaugh
In a blog post, the company revealed that part of the chip failed shortly after being implanted.
Although the surgery went “extremely well,” several wires retracted from Arbaugh’s brain.
This resulted in fewer effective electrodes essential for recording brain activity, affecting its ability to track the speed and accuracy of the device.
The Neuralink website states that the implant has 1,024 electrodes across 64 wires that are “key to minimizing damage during implantation and beyond.”
The company did not disclose how many topics were retracted or why this happened.
Fortunately, scientists were able to make some changes to counteract the effects.
But some data was lost as a result, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sources told the newspaper that bosses considered removing the implant but assessed that it posed no risk to Arbaugh’s safety.
‘LUXURY OVERLOAD’
Arbaugh was left quadriplegic after a “freak diving accident” eight years ago that dislocated two of his vertebrae.
He said technology has allowed him to “do things on my own again, without needing my family at all hours of the day and night.”
He is still able to beat friends in video games, being able to play chess, Mario Kart and Slay the Spire.
“You guys are giving me too much, it’s like luxury overload, I haven’t been able to do these things for eight years and now I don’t know where to start allocating my attention,” Arbaugh explained.
“The games I can play now are much better than the ones before.
“I’m beating my friends at games that, as a quadriplegic, I shouldn’t beat them at.”
NEURALINK CONTROVERSY
ALLEGATIONS against Neuralink state that test monkeys endured “extreme suffering.”
The experiments reportedly left 15 of the 23 monkeys dead.
In one case, a monkey was found missing some fingers and toes, possibly caused by self-mutilation, legal documents state.
Another case revealed that a female monkey had electrodes implanted in her brain, which caused her to be overcome by vomiting, retching and panting.
An autopsy later showed that the monkey was suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Bloody skin infections, monkey collapses and other horrific side effects were also recorded in the results, according to court documents.
“No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant. First, our first implants, to minimize the risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal (sic) monkeys (already close to death),” Musk previously said on X.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
