A patient with a brain chip implanted by Neuralink has completed a full recovery. He can now control a computer mouse without using his hands, reports Reuters.
«Progress is good, and the patient appears to have fully recovered. He can move the mouse cursor on the screen just by thinking», said the startup’s founder Elon Musk during a conversation with listeners on the media platform X.
Neuralink representatives disclosed some details of the chip testing. A robot surgically places it in the motor cortex area, responsible for planning, controlling, and executing voluntary movements.
Such research became possible after Neuralink received approval for human trials in May 2023 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The primary goal of the testing is currently to increase the number of mouse clicks by the patient.
Musk expressed hope that medical research on humans will also help find ways to treat conditions such as autism, depression, and schizophrenia.
Back in January 2024, the first human received a chip implant, five months after the recruitment of test subjects began.