What are some of the method that scientist might use in the
future to interface computer with human brain??
INTRODUCTION:
The interaction
between human and computers are so prevalent nowadays because of the dominance
in technology sector where by in each home there should be at least 2-3
computers or cell phones. And so scientist took these opportunity as a
privilege to broaden their research and go super abstract. The scientist
finally came up with idea of connecting the brain with computers which was
first seen as a fiction and now people start to believe with the fiction.
BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACE:
It is also known as BCI. A brain
computer interface, also known as mind-machine interface, it is a method of
communication based on neural activities. It can also be said as the system for
reading out information from the brain to be translated by a computer in to a
motor command or simple act of communication. BCIs are directed at escalating or restoring sensory-motor or
human cognitive functions. It combines technologies from different fields such
as electrical engineering, computer science, biomedical engineering, and neurosurgery.
The goal of BCI is to determine an objective
by snooping on the brain activity and also providing a new channel of output
for the brain voluntary adaptive control by the user. The potential of BCI
systems of helping handicapped people is obvious. There are many computer
interface designed for disabled people (Wickelgren, 2003). Most of these
systems require some sort of muscular control such as head neck eye and some of
the facial muscles. In a nutshell, BCI systems are mainly to help the disable
people or lock in individuals with no reliable muscular control to help them
interact with their surroundings and not being isolated.
HISTORY OF ‘BCI’:
The research of brain computer interface started in 1970’s
at the University of California, which led to the emergence of expression
brain–computer interface. Hans Berger a German psychiatrist innovator in the field of human brain
research and its electrical activity has a connection with the discovery of
brain computer interfaces. Berger is credited with the development of electroencephalography. (EEG) which was
a major development for humans and helped researchers record human brain
activities. In The year 1998, it was noted development in the field of brain
mapping when researcher Philip Kennedy
implanted the first brain computer interface object into a human being.
However, the BCI object was of limited and rare. The benefit from this
development was the use of a wireless
di-electrode.
Advance research project agency expanded its focus towards a
general field of biocybernetics. The purpose was to explore the possibility of
controlling devices through a real time computerised processing of any
biological signals.
John Donoghue and
his team of Brown University researchers formed a public company, Cyber
kinetics, in 2001. The main purpose was to design a brain computer interface,
known as Brain Gate. The company has come up with NeuroPort as the first
commercial product. Columbia University Medical Centre researchers have
successfully recorded electrical activity in the brain with improved accuracy.
According to researchers, NeuroPort Neural Monitoring System enabled them to
identify micro-seizure activity prior to epileptic seizures among patients.
June 2004 marked a significant development in the field when
Matthew Nagle became the first human
to be implanted with a BCI, Cybernetics’s Brain Gate.
A number of developments have been taking place in the
field. By 2050, it is has been suggested that BCI could become a dominator,
helping human’s control things with their mind. The days isn’t far off when
humans may be able to guide an outside object with their thoughts and
imaginations in other to consistently execute both natural and complex motions
of life.
December 2004, Jonathan Wolpaw and researchers at New
York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Centre came up with a research
report that demonstrated the ability to control a computer using a BCI. In the
study, patients were asked to wear a cap that contained electrodes to capture
EEG signals from the motor cortex – part of the cerebrum governing movement.
HOW BCI WORKS:
As the power of
the modern computer grows alongside our understanding of the human brain the
scientist are moving pretty close by inducing some science fictions in to
reality. Imagine transmitting signals to someone’s brain that will give them a
chance to feel specific sensory input. Consider the potential to manipulate
computers or machinery with nothing more than a thought. Basically the BCI works base on how our brain functions.
Our brains are filled with neurons, individual nerve cells connected to one
another by axons and so every time we think, move, feel or remember something
our neurons are at work. That work is carried out by small electric signals.
The signals are generated by difference in electric potential carried by ions
on the membrane of each neuron.
FUTURE OF BCI:
If you can think of the movie Robocop then
someone should have an idea on how the brain and computers interact. BCI have a
great future because it will help a lot of crippled people and give them a
chance to leave like a normal homo sapiens. Some of the technologies are now in
use such as the cochlear implants: it’s an electronic medical device that
replaces the function of the damage inner ear and provide signals to the brain.
These technologies help the deaf people to retain their sense of hearing which
make them think that in the near future their won’t be more deaf people. The
technology also help people that are paralyze in movement and communication
because their mind and brain is working so effectively.
MERITS and DEMERITS OF
BCI:
Ø
This branch of technology have a lot of
advantages and also with little or minor demerits. Below are some of the
advantages of brain computer interface:
Ø
It helps in empowering disabled people to go
beyond their physical body challenges
Ø
Transmit visual images to the mind
of a blind person, allowing them to see the picture in imaginary world.
Ø
Transmit sound to the mind of a
deaf person with the help of cochlear, which help them regain their sense of
hearing.
Ø
It allows gamers control games with their mind
and thought
Some of the demerits include:
Ø
Research is still in beginning stages it might
have some negative impact when they go deeper.
Ø
Electrodes placed inside the skull create scar
tissue in the brain.
Ø
Sometimes it needs operation to insert something
in the head on the process someone can lose his life totally.
In conclusion, someone might say the BCI have some dangerous
demerits but as we can see the advantages are more relevant and Vass in number.
For a person in such condition and need help he or she have to take a risk and
that is why the process is still on research phase not totally executed just to
avoid some damages. Hopefully these branch of science will bring a lot of
relief to doctors and the same time the patients who suffer with neurological
disorder.
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