Will brain-computer interface technology degenerate humans? Once brain-computer interface technology is applied, will human free will be manipulated by others? How to overcome our own subjectivity by using the human brain to study the human brain? Can brain-computer interfaces unlock the infinite potential of human beings, such as learning to fly?
These problems seem unrealistic and have a lot of imagination, but they are not. "The scenes in science fiction novels and movies 10 years ago have now been reflected in reality through science and technology. For example, we have confirmed that brain-computer interface technology can rebuild people's motor ability." The answer by Professor Gerwin Schalk, director of the Frontier Laboratory of Applied Neurology at the Tianqiao Brain Science Institute, gave brain science researchers infinite possibilities and guidance on exploring unknowns.
The international forum , sponsored by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (TCCI), was successfully held in the past weekend. In more than 4 hours, five internationally renowned scientists from China, the United States, Germany, Netherlands and Singapore introduced the most cutting-edge neurotechnology to the public and discussed the application progress of these technologies in clinical, mental and psychological fields.
It is reported that nearly 520,000 online audiences participated in the conference, raised many inspiring questions, and had wonderful cloud interactions with scientists.
traceability: The dream of human decoding the brain is reflected in reality
From Professor Gerwin Schalk, director of the Frontier Laboratory of Applied Neurotechnology (TCCI Frontier Lab), Tianqiao Brain Science Research Institute, first introduced the history of scientific development of "Neurotechnology for the masses". As early as the 1930s, scientists began to think about the meaning of these radio waves since German psychiatrist Hans Berger discovered EEG . Since then, people have made many attempts. For example, under the monitoring of EEG, subjects are asked to imagine letters, spelled into sentences, or even directly imagine sentences, allowing computers to decode, so that patients can communicate with the outside world directly through "thoughts"... These "science fiction" in the past are now gradually becoming reality.
Gerwin Schalk introduced the study of decoding human language by applying neural technology
Schalk also talked about the current situation of neural technology. At present, invasive neurotechnology (such as deep brain electrodes) is mainly used in clinical practice in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. They are accurate and effective, but they also face problems such as regulatory system, expensive prices, and principles that need to be clarified. In contrast, non-invasive technologies (such as polysomnography monitoring systems, etc.) are more easily approved, but have poor accuracy.
"It's like putting a microphone outside a stadium, and it's hard to hear the sound inside the stadium. But if we put a microphone outside this stadium, we can gather more information, and that's what we are doing now," Professor Gerwin explained vividly.
In addition, he pointed out that although the application of neurotechnology has developed rapidly over the past century, there are few successful cases that are truly applicable to patients and the public. There is still a long way to go from laboratory research to final application, and it requires the integration and co-construction of multiple disciplines, such as hardware, software, algorithms, etc. Professor Schalk introduced the brain-computer interface research system developed by his team. Traditional electrical stimulation can take several hours to detect brain functional areas, but the system they developed takes only minutes. Nowadays, this system has been widely used worldwide and will play a more powerful role in brain-computer interface research. Professor Schalk also hopes to continue to study brain-computer interface technology suitable for in China at the Tianqiao Brain Science Institute (TCCI), such as in-depth research on brain areas that are effective in Chinese language .
Finally, he concluded that brain-computer interface technology will benefit mankind, and further in-depth exploration in this field can allow us to understand the brain in a completely new dimension; but at the same time, we also face many difficulties. The scientific community must make continuous and systematic efforts to solve practical problems, rather than just staying in beautiful concepts and designs. He believes that the progress in this field is changing with each passing day. Things that seemed fantastic a few years ago may seem ordinary now, so the future must be exciting.
Yuan Brain: Use beautiful mathematical formulas to create the human brain
"You may find it difficult to imagine that countless beautiful mathematical formulas can explain the operating mechanism of the human brain." During the meeting, Professor Hong Bo from the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Tsinghua University introduced the emerging concept of "Meta Brain" and the related work his team has done in this field.
Professor Hong Bo introduced the concept of the metabrain and the composition of the metabrain dynamic system
According to Professor Hong Bo, the concept of the metabrain is to use brain-computer interface technology to establish a dynamic digital model of the brain to help improve the understanding of the functional operation of the brain, reproduce physiological and pathological processes, and ultimately achieve the purpose of application. In a disease state, the biological brain will produce a series of changes. If a corresponding digital brain can be established and the dynamic development and evolution of the disease can be restored, it may help us better understand its mechanism, accurately predict and develop more accurate treatment plans.
Today's era has brought unprecedented opportunities to the research of the primordial brain: the development of neuroimaging, electroencephalophysiology and computer technology are all aiding in-depth research of the primordial brain. Professor Hong Bo introduced the work that many scientists have done in brain digital reconstruction, such as static metabrain, dynamic stimulation metabrain, and even dynamic epilepsy brain. At the end of the speech, he proposed two questions: Can truly simulate a disease digital brain in the nearer future? And in the far future, can each of us have a digital twin of our brains?
Following the professor's question, Dr. Geng Haiyang, a community-based question-based observer at the Socrates Laboratory of Tianqiao Brain Science Research Institute, asked Professor Hong an interesting question: Will the application of
brain-computer interface technology bring risks in ethics ?
Regarding this issue, Professor Hong believes that at present, the brain-computer interface system is still in the research stage, and all research must be subject to informed consent, so the temporary ethical risk is relatively small; but in the future, if brain-computer interface technology is applied on a large scale, once the human brain or consciousness can be lurked, detected or even remotely invaded, it may cause serious social concerns. Perhaps in the future, we should learn from some ethical processing methods for the application of brain-computer interface technology from the ethical risks of gene editing .
Brain-computer interface in clinical practice: rebuilding the communication bridge of the mind
"At present, 20% of people around the world are affected by nervous system disorders, half of which are related to mental health, affecting nearly 1 billion people. In this regard, the main treatment methods are drug treatment and psychotherapy. There is a shortage of psychotherapists, and patients often need treatment for a long time to produce results. In this regard, brain-computer interface has infinite potential and can play more and more important roles in the treatment of mental health."
Professor Nick Ramsey of the Medical Center of Utrecht University, Netherlands introduced the brain-computer interface technology applied to clinical practice. He first introduced to everyone the clinical atresia syndrome . It can occur in the late stages of motor neuron disease , stroke , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other diseases. The patient is awake, but only the eyelids can move throughout the body, making it difficult to communicate with the outside world and it is also very painful. To improve the quality of life for these patients, Professor Ramsey’s team has conducted years of research: creating home brain-computer interface devices for patients with atresia that can help them communicate independently with the outside world.Previously, they had applied this system to a 58-year-old patient with advanced atresia syndrome. Through decoding software algorithms and repeated practices with patients, can enter about two letters per minute, with an accuracy rate of nearly 90% . Related cases were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2016. More than 6 years have passed, and the patient is still using this device, with a daily use of up to 20 hours, which has become the only channel for patients to communicate with the outside world.
Nick Professor Ramsey introduces the case of patients with atresia syndrome that benefit from brain-computer interface technology
In addition, Professor Ramsey also introduced several other research progress that can help patients communicate directly with the outside world, such as decoding language by detecting the movement of human vocal organs (such as the movement of the throat, jaw, tongue, etc.); directly decoding the sentences the patient wants to express through the brain-computer interface and presenting them on the screen. At the end of the speech, he also put forward his outlook: Can brain-computer interface technology change the lives of ordinary people? Will healthy people be willing to implant invasive brain-computer interfaces? How much room is there for non-invasive brain-computer interface development? believes that in the near future, these questions will be answered soon.
Brain-computer interface + Exoskeleton: Helping people with movement disorders regain confidence in life
"Integrating brain-computer interface and neuromodulation technology can not only help us discover important links between concussion, brain function and behavior, but also greatly improve the user's motor function. It is a very effective clinical rehabilitation tool." Professor Surjo Soekadar from the Medical Center of University of Berlin introduced the brain-computer interface technology for exercise rehabilitation . According to Professor Surjo, the non-invasive brain-computer interface + exoskeleton developed by his team can decode the brain's movement instructions and apply stimulation in a direction, so that patients with severe spinal cord injuries can regain some functions and complete a series of daily activities such as grabbing, eating, and drinking water. It is exciting that in his speech, he showed the participants that patients with movement disorders can complete some of their own work through this technology, while also maintaining human dignity. Although the invasive brain-computer interface technology still has many challenges such as infection, bleeding, lack of permanent use permission, need for surgery and expensive prices, he believes that brain-computer interface + exoskeleton will have broad application prospects in clinical practice and can greatly improve patients' quality of life. More clinical trials are needed in the future.
Surjo Professor showed the participants the case of people with motor disorders recovering their activities after receiving the application of brain-computer interface technology
When talking about the future development of brain-computer interface technology, Professor Surjo believes that the current brain-computer interface is still limited to a closed-loop system of sensory feedback and brain activity, and can only temporarily realize functional and structural reconstruction of the brain. Then, the second generation of brain-computer interface technology should integrate working memory, emotional regulation and movement-sensory interaction into the system to achieve adaptive brain function stimulation and achieve stability and improvement of brain function (see the figure below) . He proposed that detecting markers in mental activities is very challenging and has huge individual differences. The frequency range of EEG is large and is easily disturbed by a lot of interference. Therefore, using EEG to detect mental and psychological signals is an important breakthrough for future technological iteration and upgrading. In this regard, he proposed some solutions, such as using quantum sensors to detect signals. He pointed out that in addition to regulating movement, their team's brain-computer interface technology research is moving towards rebuilding mental health.
Surjo Professor talks about the prospects of breakthroughs in the next generation of brain-computer interface technology
Brain-computer interface + Rehabilitation: Shaping infinite possibilities Future
Professor Guan Cuntai, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, introduced research on non-invasive brain-computer interfaces for functional enhancement or recovery.
He said that the theoretical basis for brain-computer interfaces to be used for functional recovery is neuroplasticity. After the brain is damaged, it is able to continuously reshape the connection between neurons, which is called neuroplasticity. The recovery of neurological diseases is to achieve the recovery of some functions by purposefully stimulating the brain. In his speech, Professor Guan introduced the method of using brain-computer interface technology to conduct purposeful exercise rehabilitation training for stroke patients, and also proposed that in addition to exercise rehabilitation, brain-computer interface can even be used to help patients undergo mental and psychological rehabilitation after stroke. Research by Professor Guan and his team shows that new non-invasive brain-computer interface technology based on algorithms such as deep learning can increase the accuracy of understanding of stroke patients from 68.6% of traditional brain-computer interface technology to nearly 90%.
Professor Guan Cuntai introduced the research results of new non-invasive brain-computer interface technology based on algorithms such as deep learning and other algorithms
In addition, Professor Guan's team has also conducted many related research on brain-computer interface rehabilitation technology in children's ADHD , cognitive function decline in the elderly, social anxiety and widespread anxiety. Research shows that through brain-computer interface technology, subjects can get real-time feedback during the completion of designated tasks, so that through multiple quantitative feedback and training, the purpose of improving attention, strengthening cognition, and relieving anxiety is achieved.
The discussion for more than 4 hours is coming to an end soon, and everyone still feels that they are still not satisfied. It can be said that this is a grand event that brings "brain-computer interface black technology" out of the cutting-edge laboratory and fully demonstrates it in front of the general public. It gives us an excellent opportunity to look forward to the future. What are the prospects for brain-computer interfaces in the future? How far is it to really benefit large-scale patients? Can it really "fly into the homes of ordinary people"? Let's wait and see.
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