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The first Neuralink implant in a human malfunctioned after several threads recording neural activity retracted from the brain, the Elon Musk-owned startup revealed Wednesday.

The threads retracted in the weeks following the surgery in late January that placed the Neuralink hardware in 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh’s brain, the company said in a blog post.

This reduced the number of effective electrodes and the ability of Arbaugh, a quadriplegic, to control a computer cursor with his brain.

“In response to this change, we modified the recording algorithm to be more sensitive to neural population signals, improved the techniques to translate these signals into cursor movements, and enhanced the user interface,” Neuralink said in the blog post.

The company said the adjustments resulted in a “rapid and sustained improvement” in bits-per-second, a measure of speed and accuracy of cursor control, surpassing Arbaugh’s initial performance.

While the problem doesn’t appear to pose a risk to Arbaugh’s safety, Neuralink reportedly floated the idea of removing his implant, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company has also told the Food and Drug Administration that it believes it has a solution for the issue that occurred with Arbaugh’s implant, the Journal reported.

The implant was placed just more than 100 days ago. In the blog post, the company touted Arbaugh’s ability to play online computer games, browse the internet, livestream and use other applications “all by controlling a cursor with his mind.”

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[-] ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world 140 points 1 month ago

This was to be expected and they handled it well imo. I'm not gonna get one though.

[-] rudyharrelson@kbin.social 82 points 1 month ago

Agreed. I was flippant after reading the headline, since I don't like Musk, but once I read the story I was like "oh yeah this tech does have big potential for the differently abled. "

A quadriplegic being able to control a cursor on a screen with the implant for 100 days seems like a legit first attempt.

Could be great for the accessibility movement in the long run. But I could be naive or too optimistic.

[-] Sneptaur@pawb.social 20 points 1 month ago

There are some politically correct terms that are not well liked by the people they describe:

  • Differently abled
  • Houseless
  • Latinx
[-] Robotunicorn@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

I cannot speak to any of these, however, I learned that that you should just ask. If you can’t ask, put the “human” first such as people with disabilities or people who are deaf, blind, etc. Latine is another term I’ve heard, but in the community, there are those that like it and those that don’t.

[-] Sneptaur@pawb.social 4 points 1 month ago

This is correct

[-] cam_i_am@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

What you said is often true but not always. Some communities prefer person-first language, some prefer identity first language.

For example, generally speaking, "autistic people" is preferred over "people with autism". The reasoning being "this is just part of who I am, it's not an affliction that I have."

I'm not autistic but I have lots of friends who are, and they all prefer to say "I'm autistic" rather than "I have autism".

Like you said, it's best to ask, or just copy the language that the person uses for themself.

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this post was submitted on 10 May 2024
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