Neuralink’s first human patient able to control mouse through thinking, says Elon Musk 

New York: A patient implanted with Neuralink’s brain technology can now control a computer mouse just by thinking, the company’s founder Elon Musk said.

“[The] patient seems to have made a full recovery with no ill effects that we are aware of and is able to control the mouse, move the mouse around the screen just by thinking,” Musk said in a Spaces session on social media platform X.

While the company is celebrating its initial success, Musk has revealed that Neuralink has bigger goals. The next step is to enable more complex interactions, such as controlling mouse buttons with the patient’s thoughts.

Earlier, in January, Elon Musk announced Neuralink, the successful implantation of a chip in its first human patient. The company had obtained the approval for human trial recruitment in September, marking a pivotal moment for the venture.

While the patient’s details remain undisclosed by Musk, Neuralink’s announcement in September stated that the target demographic for recruitment was individuals suffering from quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

In this study, Neuralink is using a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move. According to the company, their initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts.

For Musk, Neuralink is his grand ambition that aims to facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions like obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia.